On My Own
by Basicgirl1234
Summary: 7 long years pass by so fast, but the memories never leave you - Can Ash learn to love, trust and have friends after so much pain has come his way? Rated M for language and later sexual scenes
1. Warming Up

_Location - An island just of the coast of Sinnoh ._

_Time - 5:37 A.M_

* * *

"_Piii..._" A small yellow rodent like pokemon yawned as he blinked his eyes open slowly. Standing up on all fours, the small electric pokemon let out another yawn as he looked around. Falling back on to his hind-legs with one more yawn, the tall eared pokemon scratched at his ear before looking around his surroundings.

"Finally awake buddy?" A young but mature sounding voice spoke up, making the small rodent's ears twitch. Smiling as he looked towards the source of the voice, Pikachu let at a happy, "_Kaaa.." _As he ran up to his trainer, jumping up and taking his usual spot on his trainers shoulder, "You sure slept well, must have been tired from all that training yesterday i suppose..." The young man said with a smile as he raised a hand up and scratched behind his starters ear, earning a happy cry from the electric pokemon.

"Regardless!" The young man suddenly said, a smile on his face as he stopped scratching Pikachu's ear and lowered his arm, letting it hang by his poke'ball covered belt, "It's a brand new day - who knows what it will bring" The boy continued, stretching his arms up as he turned away around and began walking away from the cave he and his pokemon called home.

Taking a few steps away from the cave, the man smiled as he felt the thin rays of sunlight settle on his face, skimming across the marks on his cheeks and reflecting off his golden brown eyes, "Nice weather, at least that storm cleared up from last night, aye buddy?" "_Pi-Pikachu!" _Pikachu chipped in with a smile and nod of his small head.

Hopping down a small ledge, the young man let out a yawn as he stretched his arms above his head with a sigh, "Another day of training, right bud?" Pikachu grinned and nodded as he jumped from the boys shoulder. Landing in front of his trainer, Pikachu looked back with a challenging look and a grin, "Oh, you wanna race? You are so on!" The young man exclaimed as the duo began running, disappearing deeper into the dense forest that took up most of the island.

"H-H-HEY! N-No fair!" The young man exclaimed as Pikachu began gaining more speed, a trail of white light trailing behind him, "Y-You cheated!" The young man panted as he came to a stop on the edge of a large clearing, one hand around his stomach and the other resting on his knee as he gasped for air. Glaring at the smirking electric pokemon, the young man shook his head as he stood up straight after regaining his ability to breath normally, "I didn't say you could use **Quick-Attack**!" Pikachu just let out a cheeky laugh, making the young man roll his eyes as a small smile creeped onto his face, "Fine, you win this time - but next time don't use your moves!" Pikachu just shrugged with a playful smile, earning another eye roll from his trainer as he walked further into the clearing.

The clearing itself was fairly sized, about the size of a small football field: a small river ran through the clearing, and it was covered in rocks that varied in size from small pebbles to large boulders - although many of the large boulders had been destroyed thanks to previous training sessions.

"Alright, let's get everyone warmed up" The young man stated as he reached to his belt, unclipping two poke'balls and throwing them into the air, he watched as two of his pokemon appeared in front of him.

"_Raptor!" "Talon!" _Both pokemon cried as they appeared in front of the trainer, both shaking their heads and ruffling their feathers before looking up at their trainer, "Morning Staraptor, Talonflame" The young man greeted his pokemon with a smile, walking over and petting both the bird pokemon's heads gently, "You know what to do right?" Both pokemon nodded as they took to the sky and began flying around the island, warming their bodies up before they began training.

Watching as the duo flew off, the young man nodded as he walked over to the river and released his water type pokemon, "Alright - Floatzel, Dewott, Croconaw, the usual" The three water type pokemon nodded as they began swimming up stream, easily fighting againest the river's current. Satisfied, the trainer walked over to the edge of the clearing, near a particularly dense portion of the tress and released his next four pokemon, "Sceptile, Levanny, Heracross, Servine - through the tree's" The four pokemon nodded as they disappeared into the dense section of tree's.

Walking back into the clearing, the young trainer released two more pokemon, "Hawlucha, Infernape - sparring time" Both fighting type pokemon nodded as they began sparring with each other, leaving their trainer to release his final few pokemon, "Bulbasaur, Bayleef, Donphan, Scrafty, Krookodile, Gliscor, you two Pikachu - let's do some laps" The young man stated, earning nods from each pokemon: Pikachu jumping from his shoulder to join the others as they all began doing laps around the clearing, trainer included.

The young man was none other than 17 year-old Ash Ketchum - at one time the pride of Pallet Town and hero to many young, aspiring trainers around the world, thanks to the many times he had saved the world from natural calamities caused by the evil organisations that once ran ramped throughout the regions.

Panting softly as he ran, Ash let his mind wonder, his pace slowing slightly as he thought back the fond memories he had made traveling through out the regions. However, it didn't take long till those fond, often happy memories seemed to fade in his mids eyes - instead a dark and sad memory bloomed, taking over Ash's mind like a virus, slowing him down even more until he came to a complete hauly, his body starting to shake softly as the memory took over his body, mind and emotions.

Noticing that their trainer has come to a complete stand still, the bundle of pokemon running besides Ash stopped, turning to look back at their trainer with confused and curious eyes. Looks of confusion and curiosity quickly turned to alarm as they noticed the boy shaking. In their minds it could only mean he was thinking back to the day it happened.

The day everything in Ash's life shattered and fell apart at the seems.


	2. Disturbance

_\- 7 Years Ag0 -_

* * *

_"Something's wrong..." Ash thought as he looked around the living room, his eyes moving from each person to person that took up the packed room. Surrounding the ten-year-old were all of his traveling companions, his rivals and even other trainers he had formed bonds with. To the left was Brock and Misty, both leaning againest the door frame that lead into the kitchen, and both sporting unreadable looks - or at least Ash couldn't read what they were feeling of thinking._

_Standing in the other door frame, the one that lead to the front door and the stairs was May, Dawn, Zoey and Max, all four of them were avoiding eye contact with Ash for reasons that Ash couldn't figure out, so he mentally shrugged and looked towards the two sofas, where sat Iris, Cilan, Cameron, Trip, Paul and Barry, all of them looking at Ash with blank looks, and finally, to the left wall stood Richie and AJ. Ash noticed that the only people really missing from the room was his Kalos traveling companions as well as Gary, Tracy, the Professor and his mom - but it was to be expected, as Serena had left for Hoenn and Clemont and Bonnie had remained in Kalos: as to why Gary, Tracy, the professor and his mom weren't around, Ash hadn't the faintest clue._

_"Wow! Did you all come to see me? Thats great! It's great to see you all again!" Ash exclaimed, pushing the bad feeling into the depths of his stomach as they looked around the room with a wide smile._

* * *

_"PIKAPI!" _Pikachu exclaimed, snapping Ash out of his trance and making him look up, only to see the many concerned faces of his running companions, "I thought back again, didn't I?" Ash mused a loud, earning nods form his pokemon, each of them sporting a concerned look, making Ash smile as he shook his head and slapped his hands againest his cheeks lightly, "Sorry about getting you all worried - let's just keep running okay?" Ash said as he began running once more.

All the stopped pokemon looked at each other in concern, including Pikachu - none of them really knew what happened that day, as they had all been at the ranch, and because Ash refused to talk about it, but they knew whatever had happened had to have been bad.

* * *

"Alright! Fall in!" Ash exclaimed as he came to a stop: watching as the pokemon he had run with stop, each of them panting softly, and as Talonflame and Staraptor flew down in front of him, having heard their trainers call. Ash cleared his throat as he looked from pokemon to pokemon, "Today is endurance - Talonflame, Staraptor?" Ash started, looking to the two flying pokemon as they looked at their trainer.

The duo flapped their wings as they hopped in front of their trainer, allowing Ash to tie rocks to their wings using vines he had woven into ropes, "Fly as long as you can with these rocks attached to yours wings okay? Try and stay up as long as possible, but don't hurt yourselves okay?" The two male flying types nodded as they flapped their rock bound wings and took to the air - all be it slightly slower than before thanks to the added weight of the rocks.

Looking towards the river, Ash whistled softly, watching as his three water pokemon appeared from from under the water, each of the completely soaked, making Ash smile, "Alright guys, its endurance training today - instead of swimming atop of the water, i want you to swim againest the current under the water as best you can - remember, push yourselves, but don't hurt yourselves" Croconaw and Dewott nodded as they disappeared under the water to begin their trainer. Floatzel on the other hand looked at Ash slowly, making Ash shift his feet from the knowing look from the water weasel pokemon, "Don't worry about me Floatzel, i'm okay" Floatzel didn't look convinced, but nodded and dove under the water, resuming his trainer.

Sighing in relief that his water weasel pokemon hadn't pushed the boy, Ash made his way back over to the edge of the forest, letting out a high pitched whistle and watching as Sceptile, Levanny, Heracross, Servine emerged from the tree's, "It's endurance training today - Heracross i want you to fly through the trees as fast as you can okay? Leavanny i want you to run through the tree's under Heracross" The two bug pokemon nodded as they saluted their trainer before disappearing back into the forest.

Looking at Sceptile and Servine, Ash nodded with a smile at the two pokemon, "Alright, i want you two to search for berries today - but don't worry i will have you doing some endurance training afterwards" Ash reassured his two grass pokemon. Sceptile frowned, twirling the twig around in his mouth as he did so - personally, he hated searching for berries with Servine: not only was it a fairly boring job, but he didn't really get along with Servine, he found her to be a little stuck up.

Ash shot Sceptile a look after noticing the frown on the Hoenn native pokemon, "I know you don't want to, but we need more berries, we are running short of supplies - Sceptile, your good at finding berries amongst the bushes, and so are you Servine, so, please, try and get along and work together?" The two grass pokemon looked at each other momentarily until Servine huffed and turned her head away, disappearing back into the density of the forest. Sceptile's eye twitched as he watched the grass pokemon disappear but sighed and nodded towards Ash before leaping back into the tree's and disappearing himself.

Sighing softly as he watched the two grass pokemon venture into the forest, Ash ran a hand through his short but wild black hair, "I need to find a way to get those two to bond..." Ash mused to himself as he walked over to his two no-longer sparring pokemon, "Alright, Hawlucha and Infernape - its endurance training today. Infernape i want you to work on how long you can hold you can keep your **Flamethrower **going, and Hawlucha i want you to supervise okay?" The duo nodded, fist bumping as they ventured of to find an area to train.

Ash smiled as the two fist bumped, grateful that at least some of his pokemon got along as he walked over to his remaining pokemon, "Since endurance is today's goal, i want you each to find decently sized rocks or boulders and bring them to me," Each pokemon nodded as they dispersed, reassembling in front of Ash once they had each found decently sized boulders/rocks.

Nodding to himself with a smile, Ash, using the last of his woven rope, tied the rocks to each of his pokemon before standing up, "Now i want you to run, run for as long as you can and as fast as you can with those boulders/rocks attached to you, okay?" Each pokemon nodded as they dispearced and began running around the clearing.

Stretching himself, Ash wondered around the clearing, picking up decently sized rocks/boulders and slipped them into his ripped up jeans pockets, (**He is wearing the outfit he wore in Kalos**) before taking a deep breath as he joined his pokemon - he saw it fit to train himself as well as his pokemon.

* * *

"_Sceptile!" "Servine!" _Ash and his pokemon came to a halt at the sudden cries of the grass type pokemon, their eyebrows raising in confusion, "What the-?" Ash started, only for his eyes to widen as a large explosion ricocheted throughout the area, the ground heaving slightly and the air becoming filled with dust and debri.

"Shit..." Ash cursed, reaching into his pockets and pulling the rocks out as he coughed from the dust, moving an arm up to shield his eyes, "Is everyone okay?!" A loud cry from each pokemon confirmed Ash's question, but the missing sounds of Sceptile and Servine made Ash worry as the dust began to settle.

"Once the dust had fully settled, an eerie silence followed, "Shit...whats happened?" Ash cursed once more, looking to his pokemon, each wearing a look of concern. Shaking his head, Ash began running towards the forest that his two grass pokemon had disappeared into, weaving in and out of the tree's.


	3. Chosen One

Coming out of the other side of the tree's, Ash and his pokemon, who had all dumped their rocks/boulders and followed their trainer, gasped upon what they saw.

In front of them laid Sceptile and Servine, both knocked out with electricity crackling of their bodies, "No! What happened?!" Ash gasped out as he ran to his two fallen pokemon, kneeling besides them, "Shit..." Ash cursed for the third time that day, placing a hand on each pokemon, not caring that the electricity was making his hair stand up slightly.

Looking around at his other pokemon, Ash's eyes hardened as he nodded in an attempt to keep himself calm, "We need to get these two back - Levanny, carry Servine, Infernape you carry Sceptile - Pikachu your with me - everyone else, i want you to go back home and care for these two until i get back," The rest of his pokemon, looked at each other in concern but nodded. Leavanny and Infernape lifted the two fallen pokemon and began making their way back to the cave they called home, the rest of the pokemon following behind them - occasionally they would look back towards Ash and Pikachu, concern etched across their faces.

* * *

Watching as his pokemon dissapeared into the forest, Ash turned back towards where his two grass pokemon had been lying before looking around the small clearing, trying to gaje what had gone down.

Less then a foot in front of where his pokemon had laid were two small piles of Oran Berries, but they were burnt, scorched black and crackling with electricity similar to how his pokemon had been, "Whatever attack Sceptile and Servine must have been able to wield electricity - you think you can follow the electricity Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded as he ran forward and sniffed the berries, raising his ears and tail into the air as he sniffed the air, "_Pi-Pikachu!" _He exclaimed, his cheeks sparking slightly as a sudden surge of electricity appeared form nowhere and struck the electric rodent.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out, shielding his eyes from the brightness of the attack - luckily Pikachu had sensed the incoming attack and had reacted quickly, plunging his tail into the ground and sending the electricity into the ground.

"Where did that come from?! Come on out and quit hiding!" Ash demanded once he noticed that Pikachu was alright, turning and twisting around in an attempt to find the source of the attack.

"_I am not hiding" _A voice suddenly spoke up - the voice itself was strange: Ash couldn't determine whether it was a male or female voice, but he could tell that it wasn't human, "Not hiding?!" Ash demanded, stopping when he noticed a twinkle in the sky, catching his attention as the twinkle seemed to get closer and closer.

"_I told you - I'm not hiding, I'm being cautious" _The voice continued as the twinkle in the sky got larger and closer, close enough that Ash could make it out.

It was nothing that Ash had ever seen before - whatever it was was tall, almost as tall as Ash, with a large orange protrusion shaped like a giant spie atop its head. Its body was a mix of orange, yellow, black and white, with two large, oval shaped protrusions on each of it's arms.

"Who are you?! Why did you attack us?!" Ash demanded as the, what he persummed was a pokemon, descended from the sky to float a few feet away from him and Pikachu.

_"My name...is Tapu Koko - as to why I attacked, I need to test your pokemon's strength" _Ash frowned softly at the pokemon's response, his hands tightening into fists as he glared at the pokemon, "If you wanted to test our strength, why didn't you just challenge me?! Instead of striking down tow of my pokemon without warning and nearly hurting Pikachu?!"

_"That is simple - a normal challenge wouldn't have tested your pokemon's ability to think quick on their feet. Your Pikachu however thought quickly and diverted my attack into the ground, impressive" _Ash's eye twitched as he growled softly, followed by Pikachu growling alongside him, "What kind of reason is that?! You could have killed them!"

The pokemon raised one of it's black eyebrows, letting out a laugh, which just infuriated Ash more, "_I would never do something as careless as uto kill a fellow pokemon - only my full power is capable of doing that - as i said i was merely testing your pokemon's ability to think fast on their feet, i wanted to see if you were worthy or not" _

_"_Worthy?" Ash echoed in confusion, his fists uncurling as confusion settled in and he tilted his head, showing his confusion. Tapu Koko nodded swiftly, moving tis arms to its sides as it looked at Ash with critical eyes, "_As i recall, you are the chosen one - according to lord Arceus, the world is once again in great danger, and needs the chosen one once more" _The hairs on the back of Ash's neck stood up at the pokemon's words until the boy began laughing, earning a confused look from Tapu koko.

"I am no chosen one" Ash stated once his laughing has did down, looking at the orange and yellow pokemon with a serious look, "Ask anyone - they will tell you only negative things about me. Sure, at one point i may have been, but no longer. I don't save the world anymore. I just look after my pokemon and myself. Thats all there is" Ash stated blandly, a look of defeat in his eyes.

Tapu Koko raised a brow once more as it shifted its arms around softly, "_Regardless of how you feel towards being labeled the chosen one - it is your destiny to save the world once more. Come" _

"No" Ash stated straightforwardly, a blank look on his face, making Tapu Koko's eye brows shoot up in surprise at the flat out denial, "I will not come with you - You have injured two of my pokemon, and they need my help, so i will be leaving. Goodbye." Ash continued, turning and walking away from the scene and disappearing back into the forest, Pikachu following quickly behind him.


	4. Bargaining

Staring after Ash and Pikachu as they left, Tapu Koko just gaped ins hock, his eye brows still raised, "_He refuses to come with me? How selfish has the chosen one become?!" _The electric pokemon thought as he slowly closed his mouth and clenched his fists, his eyes hardening as he floated higher into the air until he has hovering above the forest, "_He will save the world - for it is his destiny" _He thought as he flew over the tree's and hovered above the cave/field that Ash and company called home.

* * *

Once back in the open field he used as training grounds, Ash wiped the small beads of sweat that had began budding on his forehead as he made his way through the rugged clearing and towards the cave he and his pokemon called home, "I really hope Sceptile and Servine are okay..." Ash mused a loud softly, making Pikachu smile as he nuzzled the boys cheeks softly, "_Pi..Pi-Pikachu..." _Ash smiled slightly as he approached the cave, taking a deep breath before he entered.

Ash almost instantly relaxed upon entering the cave, only to see all his pokemon crowded around a standing Servine and Sceptile, "Oh thank Arceus..." Ash sighed out as he walked deeper into the cave, "I'm so glad your both up and moving again, are you both alright?" Both grass types nodded, flinchign softly as a static line of electricity passed around their necks, making Ash frown as he looked around the cave.

Finding what he was searching for made the brown eyed boy's eyes light up as he walked over to the corner of the cave were he kept all the food, "Here, take some of these Cheri Berries, they should help get rid of the last of the electricity" Ash said as he handed each of his grass pokemon a berry, watching as Sceptile ate the berry whole whilst Servine nibbled on it daintily.

_"Chosen one" _Ash heard, making his eyes harden and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he, and his pokemon turned towards the source of the voice. Stood at the cave entrance was the mysterious Tapu Koko from before, staring directly at Ash with hardened eyes, "_Are one's pokemon recovered?" _He continued, not caring for the glares he was receiving from the two grass pokemon and Pikachu.

Ash glanced at his pokemon, waving a hand towards them, "Do not wast your glares my friends, i will deal with this. Just keep looking after Sceptile and Servine - i know they said they were alright but i am still concerned" Calming down from the wave of his hand, Ash's pokemon all returned to watching the two grass types, who ignored Ash's words and continued to glare at the electric totem pokemon.

"We shall continue this talk outside" Ash stated before turned towards his pokemon once more, "You all stay here, i will be back momentarily" All the pokemon looked at each other in concern. but nodded regardless, watching as their trainer and friend left the cave, the mysterious pokemon's eyes never leaving Ash as he followed him.

* * *

Stopping in the center of the field, Ash stopped and turned to face Totem Koko with a hard, but somewhat blank look, "What is it you want? i have told you i am not going with you - i have no reason to leave this island, and if you really need people to save your world once more, then i suggest you search somewhere else" Ash said bluntly, watching as Totem Koko's eyes seemed to harden more, its small hands clenching as it ground it's teeth.

"_You do not understand the great perel the world is facing - it is of great importance to lord Arceus that it is you who is to save the world"_ Ash just snorted, laughing loudly for a few seconds before he regained his composure, "I don't give an Aipom tail what "lord" Arceus thinks - where was he when i was left alone? where was he when my friends and pokemon betrayed me, huh? He wasn't there! why should i do his job of saving the world when he wasn't there to save me from heartbreak and despair?!"

Totem Koko listened to the almost adult chosen one's reasoning with a calm expression on his face, ""_I do not claim to understand why lord Arceus seeks the help of human such as yourself - but he claimed that the world can and will only be saved by the chosen one, and i shall not leave until that demand is fulfilled" _

_"Do not think you are the only chosen one though," _Totem Koko continued, making Ash's eye brow raise in curiosity, "_There are three other chosen one's that Lord Arceus has chosen, but the world can only be saved by having all three travel to the Alola regoin and work together"_

Ash sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in defeat, no longer wanting to have the conversation with the clearly stubborn pokemon, "If i save the world, again," Ash started, emphasizing on the again part with a biting tone, "Will the great and powerful Lord Arceus leave me alone? Wil you leave me alone to my own devices?" Tapu Koko grunted, but nodded - clearly getting irritated with the young boy's attitude towards Arceus.

"Then fine. But not today - my pokemon still need to recover, we shall leave tomorrow at dawn. But after this i expect to be left alone with my pokemon" Tapu Koko's eye twitched slightly as he glared at the boy's attitude, but nodded none the less - he may not like the boy's attitude, but at least he cared enough for his pokemon to warrant wanting to wait.


	5. The Next Dawn

"_**Night time came fast today...**_" Ash thought bitterly as he and his pokemon gathered around the small fire that stood center in the small cave. Once Tapu Koko had agreed to Ash's conditions, the boy had spent the rest of the day gathering berries and watching over his two injured pokemon - as much as he would have liked to have spent the day training, him and his pokemon still needed to eat, plus Sceptile and Servine needed to recover. Ash himself was still hateful at the idea of having to leave the island he now called home - but he knew if he did, then he would at last be left alone to his devices with his family.

Sighing softly to himself, Ash reached into his pocket's, pulling out the bundles of berries he had managed to scrap together - Sceptile and Servine had found most of the berries that had bloomed that day, but they were to burnt to be eaten without giving one a stomach ache.

Organising the small amount of berries, Ash sighed when he realised there was only enough for one berry each, "Looks like we will have to make due tonight...stupid Tapu whatever..." Ash grumbled as he stood up, passing a berry to each of his pokemon, who all but scoffed them down instantly - Ash knew they had been worrying like mad about Sceptile and Servine, and about the strange pokemon that had attacked them.

Settling back by the fire, Ash looked into the dancing yellow and orange flames for a few minutes before coughing, gathering his pokemon's attention, "We are leaving the island tomorrow" Ash stated bluntly, holding a hand up as his pokemon all cried out in objection, "I don't want to leave either - the last thing i want is to run into THAT lot again - but the pokemon has promised that if i go with him and do whatever it is i need to do, that he will leave us alone, so i made the decision to go with him so we will be left alone in the future"

A grumble passed through his pokemon as they all reluctantly nodded, making Ash smile for the first time that day, "Thanks everyone. Well, were leaving early, so we best get some sleep" All his pokemon nodded as they each got comfy in the cave. Ash's smile faded as soon as his pokemon had fallen asleep as he stood up and tiptoed out of the cave.

Glancing around the open field, Ash caught a glimpse of yellow, "Tapu Koko" Ash stated, watching as the totem pokemon emerged from behind a large boulder, "I want to ask - how did you find me?" Ash continued, watching as the totem pokemon raised a brow at the seemingly random question, "I have isolated myself here for seven long years. Not once has any other person or pokemon ever arrived on the island. Yet you arrived seemingly out of nowhere - someone must have tipped you of to my location, but the question is who." Ash elaborated, watching as an impressed look crossed the yellow pokemon's face.

"_No one lead me here - there is much about Totem pokemon that you do not know. But you will learn in due time, i promise you that - no go, we will be leaving in a few short hours, and i don't need you falling aslepe on me when were traveling" _Ash's eye twitched at the lack of an answer he got, but grunted and turned away, disappearing back into the cave to get some well earned rest.

* * *

_\- The Next Dawn -_

"_Awaken" _Ash grunted and slwoly opened his eyes as the booming, but familiar voice of Tapu Koko rung through out the cave, "What time is it?" Ash grumbled as he sat up and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before looking at the totem pokemon, who bore an irritated look, "_Early. Now, we must be leaving. Get your Barrings and let's go." _Ash sighed with an eye roll, but nodded whilst standing up and stretching his arms, "Whatever, let me just wake the other's up and we can go" Tapu Koko let out what Ash assumed was a growl at the nochalote tone Ash used to address the pokemon.

Ignoring the pokemon, Ash slowly woke up his pokemon, being sure to take his time, smirking as he did so - he knew that Tapu Koko was growing impatient, but he didn't care. It's not like he wanted to go with him, so why should he rush?

Once his pokemon were all awake and recalled to their poke'balls - except for Pikachu of course - Ash and Pikachu let out another yawn as they exited the cave, stretching once more, "_Are you finally ready? You have waisted enough time" _Ash just rolled his eyes and nodded as Tapu Koko floated down to them, turning his back to him, "_Good. Get on and hold on. I do not wish to pick you up from the ocean" _Rolling his eyes once more, Ash carefully climbed onto the large pokemon's back, maneuvering himself so he was comfortable as the totem pokemon took to the air and began to travel south.


	6. Travelling

\- _An Hour Later -_

"Dammit i'm bored...are we even close to-what was it you called it again?" Ash sighed out as he leaned his head down on Tapu Koko's shoulder, "_Alola, and no, we are not there yet, we will not be there for some time, as Alola is quiet a distance from Sinnoh" _Ash groaned in annoyance as he lifted his head, looking down at the rapidly passing ocean.

"How far exactly?" Ash voiced a few minutes later, making Tapu Koko's eye twitch at the question, "_Does it really matter?" _Ash smirked at the irritation in the pokemon's voice and shrugged, "I'd like to know - i mean, what if i have to go the bathroom?" "_Then you will hold it, as i am not stopping. If you really must know, we should be there by nightfall." _"Nightfall?! Thats hours away! We can't travel for that long!" Ash said, gurnting when Tapu Koko wobbled the back of his body, making Ash nearly fall off, "Hey! Watch it!"

"_Stop asking questions and i will be more careful" _Ash sighed and looked towards the sky, watching as the clouds passed by, "_**This day better go fast..." **_He thought as he looked down at Tapu Koko, studying the pokemon - now that Ash really thought about it, he had never heard of the Alola region, so he had many questions.

"Can i ask you about the Alola region?" Tapu Koko growled at first, but stopped turning his head to look at Ash with a curios look, "I've never heard of the Alola region, so whats it like? What region is it close to? what kind of pokemon live there?" Ash shot out question after question, watching as a smirk crossed Tapu Koko's face, "**_It seems lord Arceus was correct. He may be more rough, but he is still the chosen one" _**He thought as he looked away from Ash and back to the direction he was facing.

"_The Alola region is made up of four islands, it is close to the region known as Kanto and many pokemon from all over the world live there" _Ash suddenly froze after hearing what region it was near, "Are tournaments held there?"

"_On the occasion. Not very often as the Alola region does not contain a structure you humans call a league" _The news that there was no league, and that tournaments were held sparingly made Ash relax - he was sure there was little chance he would see anyone from his past there, since he thought they would never travel to a place were there was no tournament or league.

"What is the lore behind the Alola region? I know about the other regions lore and history to some extent, but i know nothing about the Alola region" Tapu Koko continued to smirk, satisfied that the boy above him seemed to show traits that Lord Arceus had spoke off.

_"Chosen One - there is very little history to the region of Alola, as it has only been established as a region in the last one hundred years" _Tapu Koko started as they began flying over the region of Sinnoh, the thousands of tree's passing under them in a blur, "_Despite being a relatively new region to the world, Alola has a rich history when it comes to it's pokemon, especially the totem pokemon - such as myself"_

"So, there are more, what did you say? Totem pokemon - other than you?" Ash continued, his curiosity peeked at the prospect of new pokemon, plus he didn't really get the idea of totem pokemon, or why they were called that, "Can you tell me more about the totem pokemon? What are they? Are they like legendary's?"

_"To some extent, yes - we Totem pokemon are considered legendary pokemon in the Alola region, as we are exseptionally stronger than your average Bidoof" _Ash rolled his eyes at the cockiness in the yellow pokemon's voice, shifting slightly as he continued to listen to the pokemon talk, "_Besides myself, there are three other totem pokemon - Tapu Bulu, Tapi Finii and Tapu Lele"_

_"Each Totem pokemon watches over an island, protecting the native humans and pokemon alike" _Tapu Koko continued, making Ash raise a brow as a question popped into his head, "Quick thought - if you Totem pokemon are so powerful, why do you need the help of a human like myself?" Tapu koko grunted slightly at the slightly high and mighty tone in Ash's voice as he continued to look ahead, not once looking at Ash as he spoke.

"_Do not think that we want to ask the help of a human such as yourself - we Totem pokemon take great pride in are ability to protect the island's, but a crisis is storming over the region, and speaking to lord Arcues, he spoke of four chosen trainers who would be able to aid us, should we need it - recall that i said NEED it. More than liekly we will not, but it is sort of a safety net, in case something happens that surprises us" _

"So, you don't actually need me - you took me away from my home just IN CASE you might need me?" Ash demanded in annoyance, making Tapu Koko smirk, "_That is correct" _Ash's eye twitched at the sudden news, knowing there was no point going back, seeing as they were close to the Johto region already, and he knew that Tapu Koko wouldn't just turn around and take him home.

"Tell me about the other Totem pokemon, and these other "chosen" ones - i want to know what and who i'm being forced to work with" Ash finally spoke up as he looked down at the many passing towns they were flying over.

_"I know little about the other Chosen One's - Lord Arcues told each of us which chosen one to find, and thats all, so you will have to make due with names for now - they are called Zack, Darwin and Nicole. On the other hand, i can tell you much about the other totems" _


	7. Arrival

_"I shall start with the first islands totem - which would be me" _Tapu Koko continued, his voice filling with pride as he spoke, "_I am the guardian of __Melemele Island, and have been since times long gone, long before humans found the region of Alola. I take pride in my ability to protect the island's pokemon and human invaders that live on my island"_

"Your island?" "_Yes. My island. When i was created by Lord Arceus, i was tasked with the life long duty of protecting the island alongside my siblings" _Tapu Koko stated as it began flying over the Kanto region, "_We totem pokemon keep to ourselves. We do not like to be with other's, especially humans"_

"Why is that?" Ash slowly voiced, his eye brow raised as he looked down at the flying pokemon, "_Many human's believe they can catch and train us totem pokemon to do their bidding. We had long since expcepted that battling with pokemon is what you humans use as a pass time, but it is not something we wish to partake in, as many pokemon in this world believe, it is a cruel pass time that shouldn't be enforced, but Lord Arceus condomes it for whatever reason"_

Ash's eye twitched slightly at the pokemon's words, "I wouldn't say pokemon training is cruel - we help pokemon reach their potential and we become friends with them"

Tapu Koko laughed softly at the boys words as they passed Kanto and were now flying over the ocean once more, "_Be that as it may, many trainers as they call them are not nice or friendly to there pokemon - can you deny this? From what Lord Arceus has spoken about you, you have known trainers that think that pokemon are little more than tools of war" _

"_But i am not going to get into this kind of debate, besides we are nealry in Alola - you will have to learn about the other Totems as you go along" _Tapu Koko finished as Ash went o say something, shutting the boy up as he looked ahead, noticing four decently sized islands in the distance.

* * *

Landing on the beach, Totem Koko waited as Ash dismounted from his back before turning to face the 17-year-old boy, "_Welcome to Alola - i must be going, ahead of you is a small building containing what you humans call the region's pokemon professor. Talk to him for more information - i will come for you when the time is right" _Before Ash could say anything of blink, Tapu koko took to the air, a trail of electricity flowing behind it as it disappeared form sight.

Ash cursed under his breath as he looked around, "It's too bright in this region...i miss home already, don't you buddy?" Pikachu, who had been asleep the whole trip, nodded in agreement, moving his tail to shield his eyes from the brightness of the sun as Ash began walking int he direction of the small house.

* * *

"Ahhh! You must be the last of the chosen ones!" A voice caught Ash's attention, making him stop as a man around his height ran up to him. The first of the four, the one who had shouted stood a few inches taller than Ash with short, dark brown hair covered by a white forward facing hat: covering his matching brown eyes was a green visor, and on his body he wore an open lab coat and green khaki shorts.

"You must be Ash!" The man, who Ash assumed was the professor, continued with a wide smile on his face, "It's great that you got here alright cousin, my name is Kukui!" Ash just nodded silently, making Kukui's eye brow raise as he looked a the 17-year-old, "Ahh, so your the quiet type? Thats cool cousin, but this isn't the place to chat! Let's go to my lab so you can meet the other's!" Ash just shrugged, still not speaking as he nodded and began following the man, who continued to ramble on and on, to which Ash blocked him out.

"Hey cousin! Were here, how about that? Time sure goes by fast when your having fun!" Ash just rolled his eyes silently - time had actually dragged on for the raven haired boy, so he was just glad he was finally there. He was hopeful that the professor would shut up for five minutes.

"Well! Let's not stand around, let's go meet the other's!" Ash sighed at the mans loudness, missing his quiet home more and more as he followed Kukui into the small, make-shift looking lab.

"Hey everyone! The final chosen one is here!" Kukui shouted as he kicked open the door to the building, stomping in loudly as Ash just watched in bewilderment, slowly following him into the building.

In the corner, to the left, stood three people, - who Ash assumed were the other "Chosen Ones". The first of the three "chosen ones" turned to towards Kukui with a large smile, "Professor! Your back! So Tapu Koko finally found the elusive third chosen one aye?" The boy continued, making Kukui smile as he nodded, stuffing his hands into his pocket, "You bet Tapu Koko sure did cousin! This here is Ash! Ash, this is Zack, Darwin and Nicole!"

The first one, Zack, smiled at Ash and held his hand out to be shaken, "Nice to meet you Melemele chosen one, I'm Zack, I was chosen by Tapu Bulu of Ula'ula island" Ash looked at the hand with a blank look, making Zack shift slightly as he withdrew his hand - it was clear Ash wasn't going to shake anyone's hand at this point.

Instead, Ash looked at Zack with a blank look, scanning his eyes over the boy. Like it was said before, Zack stood a few inches taller than Ash. From the what Ash could tell, Zack had a toned body, "_**At least that means he works out and isn't a slaker...**_" Ash thought as he continued to look over the boy. He sported a blred fedora with a black stripe that covered up his messy charcoal black hair that hung over his piercing blue eyes: Other than the red fedora, he also sported a plain red shirt, blue shorts, large brown boots **(like super marios) **and a black belt. Another thing Ash noticed was a large hammer attached to the back of his green bag pack.

"Whats with the hammer?" Ash finally spoke, raising a brow as Zack blushed and shrugged, "It was a gift from my auntie, so i always carry it around for good luck" Ash just shrugged, looking away from Zack as the two other "Chosen One's" approached him.

The other boy - who Ash clearly guessed was Darwin - look almost identical to Zack in terms of features, with his clothes being the only real difference between the two boys. He wore a green shirt instead of red, blue jeans and a green, zipperless hoodie.

"So your the one Tapu Koko was talking about? Nice to meet you, my name is Darwin" Darwin introduced himself, making Ash roll his eyes at the obviousness. It was obvious that the girl wasn't Darwin, so of COURSE he had to be Darwin.

Finally came Nicole, who stood starring at Ash with a bright pink colour dotted across her cheeks. She looked similar to the other two, except more feminine of course: she wore a pink fedora, a plain pink shirt and blue jeans.

"So, by default, I'm Nicole..." Nicole followed up quietly, making Ash smile slightly, _"**She's the quietest...i like her the most already" **_Ash thought, his smile dropping after a split second as he looked over the three, "So...when do we get started?" Ash questioned flatly, "I don't want to be away from my home any longer than i have to be, so can we just go save the world and get it over with?"

Zack, Darwin, Nicole and even the professor recoiled in shock at the boys words - did he not realise the seriousness of the situation? Or was he just being rude? Either way, the three trainers weren't looking forward to working with the 17 year old.

Kukui on the other hand frowned as he looked at the boy, removing his visor to look at him with hard eyes, "_**This isn't the boy that Tapu Koko spoke off at all...did something happen to change his personality?" **_


	8. Unexpected Conditions

"I know your all eager to get to saving the world!" Professor Kukui broke the silence, earning an eye roll from Ash, "**_For like, the millionth time you mean..." _**He thought as he looked away from the three, still speechless trainers and towards the professor, "But there are things that need to happen in order for you to prove to the totem pokemon that you are worthy of protecting the island" Kukui continued, making Ash's eye twitch slightly - Tapu Koko hadn't mentioned anything about having to "prove" himself, he just said he needed his help.

"How do we prove ourselves professor?" Zack chipped in after shaking away his previous shock, looking away from Ash and towards the professor, "Why, quiet easily my boy! As everyone in Alola knows, we don't have a proper pokemon league, but we do have the island challenges" Ash raised a brow in confusion, catching the professor's attention as he grinned and looked at the raven-haired boy, "Of course Ash! I'm guessing this is your first visit to Alola, correct?" Ash just nodded silently, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he looked at the visor-wearing man.

"Then allow me to explain! Zack, Darwin and Nicole already know this, but here in Alola we have what is known as the island challenge, its similar to how a pokemon league would work, were you have to go to each island and beat what is known as the kahuna's of the islands" Kukui explained, making Ash frown slowly, cursing Tapu Koko for not explaining all the crap he would have to do before he would be left alone.

"Here in Alola - it's sort of like a right of passage for every trainer" Zack chipped in with a smile, "Its a long standing tradition here in Alola - and it's a lot of fun!" Kukuie continued after Zack, making Ash grunt as he rolled his eyes once more, "_**Define fun..." **_He thought as he sighed and looked at the three trainers slowly before looking back at the professor.

"So, why do we need to do this island challenge? From the sounds of it, every trainer in this region does this challenge. What will it prove?" Ash questioned, making Kukui grin as a glint entered his eyes, "Why, thats simple my boy! Because this will be no ordinary island challenge!" Zack, Nicole and Darwin looked intrigued at the professor's claim - all three of them had completed the challenge years ago, and they were curious as to what would make this time different. Ash on the other hand couldn't care less. In reality, he just wanted to get it all over with so he could leave and not be bothered again.

"How will this one be different?" Nicole asked softly, glancing at Ash with a pink blush on her face before swiftly looking back at the professor. If anyone noticed her look at Ash, they didn't say anything as Zack and Darwin nodded in agreement with Nicole and the professor grinned mischievously, "All in due time cousin! But for now! It must have been a long journey getting here, so let's hit the hay and we can start fresh in the morning!"

"No" Kukui and the three trainers blinked in confusion at Ash's words, turning to look at the boy curiously, "As you can tell i am not really keen on being here" Ash continued, earning bewildered looks from the others at his bluntness, "And i do not wish to stay longer than i need to. I assume i need to go to all the islands in order to complete this "Island Challenge"? So tell me where the first kahuna is so i can complete this thing and get home as soon as possible" Ash finished, crossing his arms slowly as Pikachu nodded in agreement, the first action the yellow pokemon had taken during the whole exchange - the yellow electric pokemon didn't like the Alola region, it was to bright and sunny, and he wanted to leave just as bad as his trainer did.

"W-well the first kahuna is named Hala - but in order to fight the kahuna's, one must defeat the challenges on the island before the kahuna will recognise you as a worthy opponent" Ash sighed in irritation - this stupid, "save the world" thing was becoming more complicated than he would have liked. He honestly thought it would be straight forward, but this was just getting down right irritating.

"Fine then. Where is the island challenge? And is there more than one?" Kukui raised a brow, shrugging Ash's attitude off with a grin, "The amount of challenges varies from island to island. On this island there is only one - the captain of the challenge is called Ilima, but his challenge is at least a two day walk away, and its getting dark, so you should really hit the hay for tonight cousin" Ash grunted in irritation at the man's words, but sighed and ran a hand through his wild raven-black hair.

"Fine. But i will be leaving first thing in the morning, don't think i plan on waiting any longer than that" Ash reluctantly agreed, turning and going to walk out the building, "Where are you going? I thought you said we weren't going till tomorrow?" Darwin questioned curiously, making Ash stop as he looked at the boy with a bored look, "I'm going to bed - i don't do sleep inside. And whether you come with me tomorrow is neither here nor there" Ash stated, walking out the building before anyone could say anything else.

* * *

Watching as the door swung close, Nicole, Darwin and Zack looked at each other with bewildered looks, "My Arceus, whats that guys problem?!" Darwin said with a frown, Nicole nodding along with him in agreement. Zack and Kukui on the other hand kept their eyes on the door that Ash had left through.

"_**What was that i sensed when he left? it felt like betrayal...hurt, despair...what happened?" **_Zack thought as he moved his hands into his pockets, his eyes narrowing as he began leaving the building, "I'll be back soon, i'm going for a walk" Zack lied through his teeth, earning a nod from his siblings who continued talking about Ash's attitude whilst Kukui looked at Zack knowingly, "Don't worry professor, i will be fine" Kukui frowned but nodded slowly, watching as the black haired boy left the building, the door swinging silently behind him.


	9. The First Confrontation

Looking to the quickly darkening sky, Ash sighed before casting his eyes over the beach, "Now where to go...i don't even know this place...what do you think bud?" Ash asked, looking to Pikachu, who just shrugged as he jumped from the boys shoulder and began sniffing the ground, "_Pikapi! Pi-Pikachu!" _Pikachu stated with a smile, indicating for Ash to follow him, to whish Ash did. Following him until he got to a large, open mouthed cave.

"Good job buddy - this place should protect us in case it rains" Ash praised the electric type as he walked into he cave, Pikachu grinning proudly at his ability to find caves - it was a skill Ash didn't understand, but he didn't complain. It was how they had found there home in the first place, all thanks to Pikachu's uncanny ability to find caves.

Walking into the cave, Ash finally slouched his shoulder in relaxation - it had been to long of a day with to much information to process. All he wanted to do was to spend time with his pokemon, and maybe get some sleep so tomorrow would come faster.

"Alright, come on out everyone" Ash stated as he released his pokemon, watching as they stretched, clearly having become uncomfortable from being inside their poke'balls - back at home Ash rairly, if ever returned his pokemon unless they asked, so they weren't accustom to being in the cramp confides of the poke'ball for long periods of time.

Watching as his pokemon got comfy in the larger than normal cave, Ash sighed as he sat down on a perfectly, bench shaped boulder, "**_Strange..." _**Ash thought as he sat down and looked at the bench, shrugging slightly as he looked back to his pokemon, who were looking at him expectantly, "I am sorry to say, but i don't think we will be returning home for a little bit" Ash spoke solemnly, a sad look crossing his face, "There is more to this than that dam Tapu whatever said..." The group of pokemon growled at the mention of the Totem pokemon, still angry that it had attacked two of their friends without warning.

Sceptile was more angry that he had been taken by surprise. He knew if he had a fair shot, he would have been able to take the electric type down: same went for Servine, who was upset that she wasn't given a fair shot at battling the electric pokemon.

Ash went on to explain to his pokemon what else they would be required to do before they could go home, and be left alone in peace, "...but if nothing else, it does give us a chance to see how much stronger you guys all our, so i'm sure these battles with these captains and kahuna's should be a breeze. Then we can save the world, and go home and be left alone in peace" All the pokemon nodded, accepting the information their trainer had given them with a pinch of salt - they were sure of their own power, but they weren't sure about the powers of what their trainer called "Captains" and "Kahuna's".

"But all that starts tomorrow, so let's get some sleep before then, alri-" Ash started, stopping when he heard the snapping of a twig, making him turn around quickly, all his pokemon jumping into a fighting position, ready to protect their trainer at all costs.

"Servine, use **Vine Whip**" Ash instructed, watching as the Unova starter shot her vines, "Hey, what the-?!" A familiar, male voice exclaimed as Servine's vines wrapped around his body.

Watching as Servine's vines withdrew slowly, Ash's eyes hardened upon seeing the sneaking boy, "Zack. What are you doing here?" Ash spoke in a hard, but somewhat monotone voice, watching as the boy blushed slightly as he glanced at Ash, his arms and body still tightly wrapped by the vines, "I wanted to talk to you"

"I don't want to talk. Now leave" Ash simply stated, waving a hand towards Servine, who nodded, using her vines to turn the boy around and push him away from the cave.

Zack blinked as he regained his ability to move, glancing back at the cave with a torn look. In the end he decided to leave the boy alone, "**_I will get you to talk Ash...I need to know what has hurt your Aura so bad to turn it from blue to red" _**Zack thought as he made his way back towards the lab, a determined look on his face.


	10. Stop! Hammer Time!

Ash sighed as he sat up, all but giving up on getting any sleep. Whether it was because he wasn't home was neither here nor there, but for whatever reason, the 17-year-old couldn't fall asleep. Looking around, Ash smiled slightly at his sleeping pokemon before looking out the mouth of the cave, the smile widening when he noticed the sun peeking over the large ocean that surrounded the island, "Morning. Finally" He stated as he stood up and stretched, his bones clicking from having been lying down on uncomfortable grounds for so long.

After waking his pokemon up and recalling them to their poke'balls, promising to let them out as often as he could, Ash waiting for Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder before exiting the cave, stopping dead in his tracks as he looked ahead.

"What are you three doing here?" Ash questioned upon seeing the three other "chosen ones" standing in front of them. Darwin and Nicole still looked half asleep, their hair slightly messy and their clothes disheveled, whilst Zack looked wide awake, "You said we would be leaving first thing in the morning right?" Ash grunted slightly, knowing he had said that HE would be leaving in the morning. He had planned to leave on his own. He didn't want to travel with the three trainers. Last time he had travelling companions, it had all gone south.

"Actually, I said I would be leaving in the morning. When you three decide to leave is of no concern to me." Ash stated in irritation as he walked past the three with his eyes closed, being sure to bump shoulders with Zack, who stumbled back slightly before glaring at Ash, "Well...were all going to the same place, so we might as well travel together!" Zack exclaimed, already regretting letting the professor talk them into traveling with the boy.

"Whatever. I'm leaving. Whether you chose to follow me is your choice" Ash stated as he began walking, stopping when he realised he didn't know were to go, "You have no idea where to go, do you?" Zack stated knowingly with a smirk, making Ash growl as he continued to keep his back to the boy, "This is why we should travel together! Me, Darwin and Nicole grew up in Alola, so we know are way round!" Zack insisted, watching as Ash sighed before reluctantly nodding, "Fine, we will travel together" Zack smirked, feeling like he had won one over on Ash, but stopped smirking when Ash turned to look at him with a death glare, "But we are not friends. We won't become friends, don't think anything you do will change that. I am merely traveling with you because i don't know this region. Thats all. Got it?" Zack frowned but nodded, "_**Thats what you think..." **_He thought as he and his siblings, who had barley being listened, started following the raven haired trainer.

* * *

"What's the quickest way to the first captain?" Ash asked, stopping once the four trainers were off the beach and were knee deep in long grass, "We have to go through Hau'oli City, that's where he captain Ilima lives, and his trial is just on the outskirts" Ash nodded, watching as Zack and his siblings took the lead, Ash trailing behind them a few steps - as much as he wanted to get to the trial then and there,he didn't feel comfortable walking close to the three trainers.

"Hey, Ash?" Nicole spoke up after a little while of traveling, making Ash grunt as he looked at the black haired girl, "What region are you from?" Nicole questioned, making Ash tense up, "Sinnoh" He stated simply, looking through and ahead of the girl as she nodded, an intrigued look on her face, "That's awesome! I've always wanted to go to Sinnoh! What's it like?" Ash just grounded his teeth, clearly not in the mood to talk, "It's nice"

"Just nice? Come on! It must be awesome! What are the gym leaders like? what kind of pokemon live there?" Nicole continued, making Ash growl softly at the barrage of questions. Nicole clearly didn't notice, or she didn't care that Ash was getting irritated as she continued to barrage the irritated boy with questions, "Now that i think of it, why does your Pikachu not go in his poke'ball? does he not like them? Do pokemon not like-"

"STOP!" Ash finally shouted, his face tinted red from frustration, "I said sinnoh is nice! If you really want to know, go and find out for yourself!" He snapped, watching as Nicole's eyes widened, small tears brimming her eye lids.

Upon seeing this, Darwin and Zack came to a halt, turning back to face the still irritated Ash with hard, but angry eyes, "You know what?!" Zack started, his fists clenching as he reached for the hammer on his back, "You have been acting like a jerk ever since we met! You have clearly been hurt in the past, i get that, but this behaviour is unacceptable, especially snapping at my little sister who has done nothing wrong! Now this is what's going to happen: your going to put aside these shitty memories you have, put a smile on your face, or i will smack the living daylights out of you!"

Ash chuckled before it turned into full blown laughter, making Zack hesitate as his hand gripped the handle of his bag pack hammer, "Shut your fucking face Zack. Don't act like you know me, that you know what i have gone through. You sister wasn't doing anything? how about barraging me with questions when i am clearly not someone who wants to talk? Are you three stupid enough to think i would instantly trust you? I dont know you, and you don't know me, so don't act like you know how i feel."

Zack growled, pulling his hammer of his bag pack, "That's it! You need some sense knowing into you!" Zack shouted as he swung his hammer, but Pikachu was faster, deflecting the hammer and seeing it flying away with his **Iron Tail**.

"So now your going to attack me? You have guts, i will give you that. but next time you threaten me with that stupid hammer - will break it in half" Ash stated simply watching as Zack ran to grab his hammer, inspecting it for any damage, "Now, do you two have anything to add, or can we continue on and get this day over with?" Darwin and Nicole both shook theri head violently, making Ash smile, "Good. Let's go"


	11. What the-!

"_Pikapi..." _Pikachu spoke up as he looked at Zack, who was cradling his hammer as if it would break any minute, "Whats up Pikachu?" Ash asked upon hearing his name, looking to the electric type curiously, "_Pikachu-pi!" _Pikachu stated, pointing with his tail towards a river, "you wanna go to the river? Okay..." Ash said, walking away from the others and towards the river: Darwin and Nicole didn't noticed as they worked to comfort their older brother - theY knew how much the hammer meant to him, and the prospect of it being damaged would be heartbreaking for Zack.

* * *

"Why did you want me to go the lake buddy? You thirsty?" Ash said, stopping in front of the river and watching as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder, turning to face the boy with an upset look on his face, _"Chuuu...Pikachu. Pipipi chuchu pikachu!" _Pikachu started shouting, moving his small arms around violently as small tears filled his eyes.

"You...you agree with Zack?!" Ash finally said after a few minutes, a look of betrayal passing over his face, "How can you say that Pikachu?! You know what went down! You know!" Pikachu frowned and shook his head, making Ash recoil slightly, "You saying you don't know?! Oh wait...i never did tell you what happened...i can't Pikachu, i just can't!" He exclaimed, his voice laced with hurt and betrayal as he ran further down the river and away from Pikachu, who watched sadly as the boy once again ran away from his problems.

-_ Further Down The River -_

A small cat-like pokemon sat on the edge of the water, looking down at the water sadly, "_Tennn..." _The black and red coloured pokemon murmured sadly, small tears trickling down it's face as it looked into the water, a silhouette appearing behind it that made it jump up and turn in excitement. But the excitement soon left and was replaced with despair when the pokemon realised there was no one behind it, _"Litten..." _The pokemon murmured once more, settling back down by the water.

"_**Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" **_Ash cursed in his head over and over again as he ran down the edge of the river, tears brimming on the edge of his eye lids as he finally came to a halt, "How can he pick there side?" Ash whispered as he slowed his running down to a slow walk.

Glancing into the water, Ash did a double take as his reflection seemed to shift: the height of his reflection getting shorter, his hair shortening and his eyes softening - Ash couldn't believe it! He was looking at his 10-year-old reflection! "What the-?" Ash gasped at his reflection, watching as the soft eyes of the innocent 10 year old looked back at him, eyes full of wonder, excitement and innocence. A look Ash hadn't seen for seven years.

"_What changed Ash?" _A voice echoed through Ash's head as he stared at the reflection, the lips of the reflection moving on their own: making Ash realise that it was his reflection! It was talking to him!

"_**I must have finally lost it...**_" Ash thought, "_Not so much, your just having a mental breakdown" _The voice continued, making Ash snort slightly as he continued to stair at the reflection, "A mental breakdown, huh? Got to say, thought it would have happened long ago..." Ash said to himself, watching as the reflection smiled whilst talking to him.

"_This has been building for a long time - what happened Ash? What turned you into this mess of a trainer?"_ Ash grunted as he tried to look away from the reflection, but there was something about the 10-year-old reflection's eyes that made him unable to look away, "You know what happened - don't play stupid" Ash finally spoke up, his fists clenching as he continued to look into the eyes of his reflection, "_I know that you need to let the past go - i know it hurts, but is trusting in other's really so bad? So you trusted the wrong people. You move on. You find someone worth trusting, that's how life works" _Ash just shook his head, still bewildered that he was having a conversation with a reflection.

"_I'm not just a reflection - I'm you. I'm what you want to be. The person you were before it all happened, the boy who loved people and pokemon, who loved to travel to new regions. The boy who would save the world in a heartbeat, not thinking it was a chore" _Ash started shaking, the tears that brimmed his eyes starting to slide down his cheeks, "_I know that's what you want - what we want" _

Letting out a strangled sob, Ash fell to his knees as he continued to look into the eyes of his younger self, "How do i do it? how do i become who is was?!" Ash demanded, his voice full of emotions. The emotion in Ash's voice made his reflection smile, "_You need to talk about the past. You need to accept what happened in order to move on. Thats the only way you will become who you want to be" _Ash gasped as the reflection began to shift once more, transforming back to his normal reflection.

"No! I need more guidance!" Ash cried out as the voice faded from his mind and his reflection changed back to normal, making Ash sniff as he looked to the sky, "What do i do?"

"_Litten?"_

* * *

_The characters of Zack, Darwin and Nicole, as well as some of the plot points all go to __PokemonForever9000_


	12. Experiences Mould Us

"Huh?" Ash sniffed as he turned towards the source of the voice, only to see a small, black/red cat like pokemon, "Was that you?" The small pokemon nodded its head as it sat down and looked up at Ash, its own eyes reflecting a lingering sadness, "So...your sad to, huh?" The pokemon nodded its head as Ash sat down besides the pokemon, raising a hand to wipe away the last of his tears.

Looking back over the lake, Ash took a deep breath as he began to speak to the pokemon, "I know trusting people isn't a bad thing - but i can't. I trusted so many people in the past, and they all let me down. Why can't people see that my life has been molded by past experiences?" The little pokemon looked at Ash, confusion plastered all over its black and red coloured face: Which made a watery smile cross Ash's face.

"The darkness of the past never goes away," Ash continued, looking away from the confused pokemon and back towards the lake, "Experiences and memories don't ever leave us - i know people come and go in life, nothing in life is ever permanent: but why can't it be? Why can't life just be a little easier on people? If Arceus is so great, why does he allow for so much suffering to occur? And then expect undenying loyalty in return?!" Ash continued, his voice getting louder and angrier as he spoke, the sadness in his eyes turning to anger.

"All i did for them - everything i did for this Arceus-forsaken world, everything i did for my pokemon. All the hope i had for this world, taken from me in a instant, and all over a stupid loss" Ash continued to shout, stopping when he noticed the small pokemon had got up and was backing away. Taking a few shaky breaths as he turned to face the pokemon, Ash let a rare, gentle smile cross his face, "I'm sorry for scaring you little one...i just have many demons on my back, and it makes me angry, because me, nor anyone deserves what i was put through"

The small pokemon nodded as it slowly made its way back over to Ash's side, "I saw the sadness in your eyes before...what is it that hurt's you deep to your core?" Ash finally asked after a few beats of silence. The little pokemon's look of fear/confusion turned to that of deep sadness as he stood up and walked away from Ash. Ash didn't stop the little pokemon - clearly whatever had upset the small pokemon had been recent, and it wasn't ready to talk.

* * *

"Ash! Ash were are you?!" Zack exclaimed as he, Nicole, Darwin and Pikachu walked down the river. Zack felt guilty for what he had said to the older boy - he knew he was just defending his sister, but he didn't think Ash would take it so personal.

"I think i see him!" Nicole pipped in, pointing across the river, were she could see Ash sitting by the side of the river, "Ash!" Nicole shouted, watching as Ash looked up to her, his eyes turning back to their normal coldness upon seeing her and the others.

"What? Here to kick me whilst i'm down?" Ash demanded coldly, his cold eyes hiding the deep sadness he truly felt. Zack and the other's all shook there heads as Ash stood up, allowing Pikachu to jump onto his shoulder, "'Kay then. Let's keep going. We have wasted enough time talking. I want to get this "adventure" over with" Ash stated, his numb and cold attitude confusing even Pikachu, who nuzzled the boys cheek in apology.

Zack frowned as Ash put his defences back up - but he decided not to push. He could tell it would just result in Ash getting either sad or EXTREMELY angry, and he didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Okay...l-lets go" Ash nodded as Zack once again took the lead, his siblings tailing him and Ash tailing them.


	13. A Gut-Feeling

Leaning againest a tree, Ash and Pikachu watched as Zack and the other's worked on setting up their tents - darkness had came all to fast for Ash once again. In reality, he wanted to reach Hau'oli City today, but, as Ash had come to realise, not only was the universe keen on playing him a good hand, but Alola was a lot larger than he had imagined.

"Aren't you going to set up your tent for the night?" Ash heard Darwin ask him, making him frown, the coldness in his eyes having not changed through out the day, "No. I don't sleep in tents, and i don't want to sleep with you three near me" Ash stated coldly, pushing himself of the tree and turning away from the black haired boy, "I will find my own accommodations for tonight and will meet you back here at 6 a.m sharp. I will not wait for you if you are not awake"

"Don't you need us to get to Hau'oli City thought Ash?" Nicole spoke up softly - still quiet the bit intimidated by Ash, especially since he blew up at her earlier that day. Ash just rolled his eyes before closing them and turning sideways, so he was half facing them and half facing away, "I have accepted that your assistance is of use. But if you are not here tomorrow morning, then i will find my own way to the city" Ash stated, fully turning away and walking away from them and deep into the forest that surrounded them.

* * *

"Whats his problem?" Darwin finally said as soon as Ash was out of hearing reach, a frown crossing his face as he turned towards Nicole and Zack, "I just don't get it! We haven't done anything to him, and yet he acts like an asshole!" Darwin continued, throwing his arms up into the air for emphasis. Nicole just shrugged, not having an answer to her older brother's question - all she knew was that the boy had troubles, but that's all she could really guess at that precise moment.

Zack on the other hand stayed silent as he finished setting his tent up, rolling his sleeping bag out, "Zack?" Darwin voiced, making the black haired boy look up as he finished rolling his sleeping bag out, "Hm?"

"What do you think about Ash? Me and Nicole are at a loss as to why he acts like this! Do you have any idea?" Zack sighed, removing his hat and running a hand through his hair, "I have some suspicions, but i can't be sure Darwin - i imagine you sensed his aura was red, such as i did. Correct?" Darwin and Nicole both nodded - all three siblings had the ability to sense aura's, but Nicole and Darwin's abilities were more limited that their oldest brother's.

"Well...i sense that at one point, his aura was blue - not red" Zack continued, making his two sibling's eye brows raise in confusion and surprise, "I sense that something happened to Ash that turned his once pure and extremely powerful blue aura to the anger filled red aura that it is now - what i can't figure out is what that thing was..."

"I do have a plan thought" Zack said after a few seconds, making his siblings perk up inquisitively, "From the way that Ash trats this whole "saving the world" thing, and from what Tapu Koko told us about Ash, i believe that Ash has previously saved the world before - if that is true there must be information on Ash on the global web that lists all pokemon trainers" Nicole and Darwin blinked, having never connected the dots like there brother had, "I plan, once we get to Hau'oli City, to do some research on him, find out what i can and who he has associated with over the years - they may be able to give us some intel as to why Ash is the way he is"

Darwin and Nicole both looked at their brother in astonishment and respect - this was just another reason that justified their brother being picked by Tapu Bulu, who was infamous for being very loathing of humans.


	14. Reality

Staring up at the sky, Ash let out a sigh as he sat up, leaning against the trunk of the tree that stood on the outskirts of the clearing he had found for him and his pokemon, "_**This night is going to slow..." **_Ash thought as he looked down to his left, seeing the sleeping from of Pikachu next to him, "_**At least someone is getting some sleep tonight..." **_He thought as he slowly shifted himself away from Pikachu before standing up, not wanting to wake the sleeping electric pokemon.

Walking into the clearing, Ash looked around at all his pokemon: The first thing Ash noticed was that most of his pokemon were sound asleep, except for two, who were sat with their backs to Ash.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Ash spoke quietly, but loud enough for the two pokemon to hear him, making them turn towards him, "Me neither...i just can't slepe out in the open anymore" The two pokemon nodded slowly in agreement, also finding it hard to sleep out in the open after spending so many years with the protection of the cave walls around then. The other night hadn't been so bad, seeing as how they were INSIDE a cave, but tonight they were out in the open, and who knew what or who would attack them.

"I'm guessing that's not the only reason you can't sleep...i'[m guessing your catiouse incase that pokemon attacks us again, right Sceptile? Servine?" Both grass types nodded at their trainers assumption - not only was sleeping outside not cool with them, but they didn't trust the totem pokemon, and they weren't sure if it would be back for another surprise attack.

"I don't trust that pokemon either" Ash stated as he walked closer to his two grass pokemon, who stood up and turned to face Ash, their shoulders relaxing slightly at knowing their trainer held the same thoughts as their's, "I'm still angry that that pokemon attacked you without any warning. It wasn't a fair fight, and if we did challenge Tapu Koko to battle, i know either of you would wipe the floor with it" Both pokemon nodded - they agreed entirely with their trainer. Training for seven years meant they weren't push-overs. They could more than hold their own againest the electric pokemon.

"Hm" Ash suddenly stopped, turning sideways to look towards the east of where he and his pokemon were standing, "Who goes their?" Ash suddenly demanded, making the two electric pokemon blink in confusion - they hadn't heard a sound, but clearly their trainer had. A rustling sound suddenly reached their ears, making them get into a battle stance before Ash held a hand up, "Hold up you two, i think i know who it is" Sceptile lowered his arms and Servine withdrew her vines slowly as they watched a small, unfamiliar pokemon emerged form the bushes.

"It's you? You have been following us, haven't you?" Ash asked the pokemon, who nodded at the accusation as it walked closer to Ash, "You wish to talk about what made you sad by the river?" The pokemon that Ash had met by the river nodded its small head, the look of sadness crossing over its face once more as Ash nodded, kneeling down so he was level with the cat-like pokemon.

"Very well, i am all ears." The small pokemon looked up at Ash before looking at Sceptile and Servine with hard eyes. Ash quickly got the hint, turning to look at his two, bewildered looking grass pokemon, "You two go search for berries for the morning if you can't sleep - this pokemon doesn't feel comfortable sharing its story with you two around" The two pokemon looked apprehensive to leave their trainer with the strange pokemon, but a rare smile from their trainer mde them relax slightly, "Do not worry - but be on high alert. I don't want you two getting hurt, okay?" Ash said as he watched his two pokemon nod before the dissapeared into the tree's, but not without consistently looking back towards their trainer - neither pokemon had seen the small cat pokemon before, and they were apprehensive about leaving their trainer with a strange new pokemon.

* * *

Ash smiled sadly as the small black pokemon in front of him looked down sadly, a dry trail of tears running from its eyes, "So, your mentor passed away?" The little pokemon nodded sadly, making Ash's sad smile turn even sadder as he went to pet the small pokemon, but stopped himself - pulling his hand back when he realised stroking a wild pokemon would not be the best idea.

"I can't say i relate to that little one," Ash started off as he retracted his hand, resting it on his kneeling knee gently, "But i know what it's like to lose someone who is important to you. Its gut-wrenching. It makes you question why Arceus allows suffering to occur to the likes who don't deserve it" The small pokemon nodded, raising it's paw to wipe at it's eyes.

"And although life around you moves on - you feel stuck in a time warp. A limbo where the pain never goes away, but everyone around you is smiling, as if nothing ever happened" The little pokemon nodded once again in agreement as Ash spoke, "The sadness never goes away. But you do grow up. You do learn to live with the pain, the regret of everything you never did, or said. That pain will never leave, but one day the pain becomes so numbing you shut yourself from everyone and everything, never letting anyone or anything close to you again" The small pokemon looked up at Ash with a tilted head, curiosity written all over the cat pokemon's face.

"You need to know this - other's say you will move on, that the pain will one day fade and everything will be better. But thats not true - the truth is it will always hurt, but the other truth is that their never really gone. As long as you remember them in your head and heart, they will always be a part of you - even if they can't be with you here in reality"


	15. More Than Meets The Eye

Looking to the sky, which had began to brighten through-out Ash's morbid but truthful monolog, "It's morning - i need to get going. But you need to remember what i told you, can you do that?" The small pokemon looked saddened at the fact that Ash was leaving, running up to the raven-haired boy and grasping at his leg desperately, "You don't want me to leave...But i have to...i do have one solution" Ash mused as he looked down at the sad face of the pokemon, "You may join me is you wish - i may not relate to what your going through, but you shouldn't be left alone when you are feeling so vulnerable" The small pokemon nodded quickly, jumping and tapping one of the empty poke'balls on Ash's belt, disappearing in a flash of light.

Ash let a small smile ghost over his lips as he stood up straight, gripping his newly caught pokemon in his left hand tightly as he stood, "Look's like i caught a new pokemon..." Ash whispered softly as he shrunk the poke'ball and slipped it into his trouser pockets - seeing as he had no more room on his custom made belt for any more poke'balls. Ash made a mental note to make a new belt with more gaps on it for more poke'balls. He didn't know if he was going to catch pokemon in this region, but he wanted to be prepared in case he did.

"_Scept! Serv!" _Ash's ears perked slightly at the familiar sounds of his pokemon, making him look up from his pocket and towards the forest, only to see his two pokemon walking back towards him, there arms positively brimming with goodies, "Wow...you found all those berries in such a short time?" Both grass types nodded as the stood in front of their trainer - Sceptile's arms were crossed, holding up dozens of berries, whilst Servine had her vines wrapped aroud several small leaf bundles. Seeing as she had small arms, Servine figure out that the best way for her search for berries was ot make little baskets out of leaves to carry them back.

"Alright, good job you two" Ash praised his two pokemon as they laid the fruits of their spoils at his feet, a half smile gracing Ash's face as he turned to look towards his pokemon - who were all beginning to wake up, "Everyone gather round!" Ash instructed as soon as his pokemon were all awake, watching as they made their way over to him, all of them rubbing the sleep from their eyes as they stopped in front of their trainer.

"Before we eat," Ash started, indicating to the berry pile, chuckling softly when the sleep disappeared from his pokemon's faces and was replaced by excitement and hunger, "I have someone i want you all to meet" The mention of meeting someone or something new made Ash's pokemon tense up, but they soon relaxed from Ash's calm demeanor, "I caught this little one a few seconds ago - right now this pokemon is going through a rough time, so i want you all to be nice to it, okay? As far as i know it is a pokemon native to this region, but that is all i know - but be nice," All the pokemon nodded slowly, bracing themselves as Ash released his newly caught pokemon.

"_Mrow..._" The cat like pokemon cried softly, shaking its fur as\ it emerged from its poke'ball. Ash's pokemon all relaxed at the sight of the small, nonthreatening pokemon, "Urm...now that i think of it...i don't know anything about this pokemon..." Ash mused as he watched his older pokemon slowly approach the cat pokemon, a confused look on his face, "Hmm..." Ash mused as he watched his pokemon all interacting together.

* * *

After his pokemon had all been introduced and they had all enjoyed a glorious breakfast of juicy berries, Ash returned all his pokemon except for Pikachu and his newly caught pokemon. Pikachu rode on Ash's shoulder as per normal whilst his new cat pokemon walked besides him as he headed back towards the clearing where the other's were stationed.

"Hm...so you three are awake" Ash stated cooley as he leaned againest a tree, looking ahead to see Zack, Darwin and Nicole nearing the end of packing up their bits and pieces, "I must say - i am impressed you headed my warning, but i shan't be waiting, you have 2 minutes to finish or i am leaving" Ash spoke up, watching as the three hurriedly packed before rushing over ot Ash as he pushed himself of the tree, "Before we go, I have a question" Ash spoke as Zack went to take the lead, stopping to look back at Ash in confusion - hadn't Ash been the one rushing them? Now he wanted them to wait so HE could ask them something? What nerve!

"I caught a new pokemon," Ash stated blandly, watching as Nicole's eyes lit up, "I believe it to be a pokemon native to the alola region, being that way, i know nothing about it. Its name, its gender, nothing. I want you to tell me everything you can about this pokemon" Zack's eyes twitched at the demanding tone in Ash's voice and went to object, but was beaten by Nicole squealing in excitement, 2A new pokemon?! Can we see it?! Please?!" Ash rolled his eyes and stepped to the side, revealing the black cat pokemon, who had taken to hiding behind its new trainers leg once the other's appeared.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S A LITTEN!" Nicole squealed, moving to pick the now named pokemon up, but was met by a hiss and a swipe of the black cat's claws, "Oof...not a friendly one it seems" Darwin pipped in as Nicole quickly stepped back.

"So this pokemon is called Litten? What else do you know about this pokemon?" Ash butted in, looking at the trio expectantly. Zack growled slightly at the still demanding tone in Ash's voice, but brushed it off, instead choosing to look at Ash's new pokemon, who was busy licking it's paw and rubbing behind it's ears, "Well your right that Litten is from the Alola region" Zack started, earning an eye roll and a sarcastic nod from Ash, making Zack's blood boil as he tried his best to keep his calm, "Litten is one of the three starters offered to trainers here in Alola - actually, why don't you just use your pokedex to look it up?" Zack suddenly said, looking at Ash with a raised brow.

Ash seemed to freeze all of sudden, his face going blank as he swallowed a lump in his throat, "I don't have one" Ash stated, watching as confusion spread throughout the three, "You don't have a pokedex? I thought all trainers had a pokedex?" Nicole said questionably, watching as Ash's blank look turned cold, "I just don't have one - now tell me more about this pokemon" Nicole shrunk back at the biting tone in Ash's voice, indicating he didn't want to talk about it - Zack and Darwin on the other hand picked up the fact Ash didn't want to talk about it quickly, so they looked at each other and nodded, making a mental note of this fact to look up once they got to the pokemon center.

"That doesn't matter, lets just use my pokedex" Zack quickly pipped in, whipping out his pokedex and typing in Litten's name in an attempt to calm the situation down - he didn't want a repeat of what happened yesterday, so it was best just to skim over the problem for now.

_Litten: The Fire Cat Pokemon._

_Litten show few emotions and prefer being alone. __Its coat regrows twice a year. When the time comes, Litten sets its own body on fire and burns away the old fur._

_Gender: Male_

_Ability: Blaze _

_Attacks Known: Ember, Scratch, Fire Fang._

Nodding once the robotic voice of Zack's pokedex stopped, Ash looked down at Litten, who looked back at him for a second before walking around his leg, nuzzling it gently, "Thats all good to know - now that that's done. Lets get a move on" Ashs tated, kneeling down and picking up Liten, who allowed Ash to pick him up, settling into his arms as Ash began walking.

The trio of siblings staired after Ash in shock - they had never seen such an anti-social pokemon like Litten allow their trainer to pick them up with such ease, "_**There really is more to Ash than meets the eye..." **_Zack and the other's all thought, "Hey! Are you thre coming or am i traveling alone?" Ash snapped out as he stopped to look back at the three, snapping them out of their gaze as they hurrid to catch up to Ash: Zack once again taking the lead with the others trailing behind him.


	16. Hau'oli City

"I think i can see Hau'oli City!" Ash looked away from the surrounding area and towards Zack, who was pointing ahead of them. In the distance, Ash could make out the outlines of tall building's, "Finally. Let's move, i want to get ther by the end of today" Ash stated as he continued walking, the siblings continuing to walk as Ash walked ahead of them, a determined look on his face, "**_The sooner i get there, the sooner the first trial or whatever will be done." _**Ash thought as he walked, the outline of the building's becoming clearer, until Ash could make out the, at one time, familiar building that was the pokemon center.

It didn't take long to get to the outskirts of the city, which Ash was thankful for, "Let's head to the pokemon center, that way we can ask Nurse Joy were Llima is!" Nicole stated, making the hairs on the back of Ash's neck bristle slightly - it had been 7 years since he had last set foot in a pokemon center, but if it meant finding the captain, then he would endure it. He mostly didn't want to go because he knew a lot of people gathered in pokemon centers. And clearly, crowds of people - shouting and talking loudly wasn't Ash's thing anymore.

* * *

Ash took a deep breath as he watched the siblings walk into the pokemon center, dragging his feet slightly as he also entered the brightly lit building, making him flinch slightly - not only was the region to bright and sunny, but the building's were lit up like christmas tree's.

"Hey Nurse Joy! Its such a pleasure to see such a beautiful lady once again," Nicole suddenly said as she ran up to the counter, a charming smile crossing her face, "HOw about we discuss it over dinner?" Ash raised a brow at the sudden change in behaviour, but smirked when Nurse Joy turned her down, saying she was busy with a sheepish smile, "Oh cruel world! why must beautiful men and woman turn me down?! will i ever find love!" Nicole shouted dramatically, anime tears falling down her face. Zack and Darwin just shook their heads at their younger sister's words whilst Ash just frowned, "**_Another flirt...just what i need" _**Ash thought as he slowly walked up to the counter, being sure to hang back behind Zack and Darwin as they spoke to the Nurse.

Nodding to the nurse and thanking her, Darwin and Zack turned to face Ash, smiles adorning their faces, "Seems like Llima is up at the trial sight right now" Darwin stated, earning a nod from Ash, "Okay. Then let's g-"

"Zack! Darwin! Nicole!" A voice suddenly interrupted Ash, making the quadruplet of trainers turn towards the source of the voice. Running up to them was a face Ash recognised a face he hadn't seen since his adventure through the Hoenn region.

* * *

_Sorry for the short chapter, the next one will be longer! _

_Can you guess who it is Ash recognises? Also if you want your OC to appear in this story, PM me with the details! _


	17. A Familiar Face

"Morrison!" the triplets shouted back as the ginger haired boy ran up to them, a smile on their faces as the familor faced boy ran up to them, "I haven't seen you guys for years! what are you doing in Hau'oli city?" Morrison said as he stopped in front of the three and Ash. The triplets smiled and began talking to the oranged haired boy as Ash seemed to freeze, his body going rigid as he stared at his, at one time friendly rival.

"...So you guys were chosen by the totem guardians? Thats awesome!" Ash saw Morrison's mouth move, but the words fell on deaf ears as he continued to stare at the boy. Snapping out of his frozen state a few seconds, Ash blinked as the the siblings and Morrison had turned ot face him, smiles still etched on their faces, "You look familiar - do i know you from somewhere? Have we battled before?" Morrison asked, his smile turning to curiosity as he looked at Ash, who shook his head, "No. We haven't met. You must be mistaking me for someone else" Ash lied through his teeth as he began walking away from them, "Well then..how about a battle? Plus any friend of these guys is a friend of mine!"

Ash grunted slightly as he stopped and looked over his shoulder and back towards the four trainers, "They are not my friends. And we can't battle." "Why not?" Morrison questioned, a disappointed look on his face at the raven-haired boys refusal to battle, "You to scared that you'll lose?" Morrison continued with a smirk - Ash rolled his eyes slowly as he turned back to face the boy who placed his hands onto his traditional japanese outfit, "No, I'm not scared in the slightest. I just want to get to the first trial without any interruptions"

"Come one Ash, one battle wouldn't hurt?" Darwin chipped in, making Ash's eye twitch as Morrison frowned, - Ash? He hadn't heard that name since he travelled through Hoenn, "_**It can't be Ash ketchum, could it? I mean, he does have the Pikachu, but this attitude isn't Ash.."** _Morrison thought as he watched Ash sigh and turn to face him fully, "Fine. If it will get you of my back, we can battle"

"Sweet! Let's go then!" Morrison exclaimed boysteriously, going to run out of the pokemon center, stopping only to look back at the others, "Let's go then!" He shouted as the siblings followed him with Ash trailing behind them, his feet dragging slightly.

* * *

"How many pokemon are we permitted to use?" Ash asked as he stepped into the battle square, watching as Morrison walked to the otherside of the field, "Well how many pokemon do you have on you?" "19" Ash stated, watching as Morrison's eye brows shot into his hair, "19?! How do you have so many pokemon with you? i thought the limit was 6?" Ash rolled his eyes and sighed as he looked across the field at Morrison, "Thats only if you have a pokedex. If you don't have a pokedex, you don't somewhere for your pokemon to go, see? But that doesn't matter - how many pokemon are we using?"

"Obviously i want to fight them all!" Morrison exclaimed, excited at the idea of fighting so many different pokemon, "But i only have 6 on me, so how about a 6 on 6?" Ash sighed softly but nodded, "Fine - but let's make this quick." Morrison frowned slightly at the boys attitude but shrugged and reached for his first poke'ball, throwing it into the air with a shout of, "Go - Girafarig!"

"Giraf!" The giraffe like pokemon exclaimed, stomping its hooves onto the ground and looking at Ash with a battle ready glare, "Hm." Ash stated as he looked at the familor giraffe pokemon, nodding as he reached to his belt, enlarging a poke'ball and throwing it on the field silently, "Scrafty!" The fighting/dark pokemon yawned as he appeared form his poke'ball, stretching his arms up before turning towards the man he saw as his father, "Heads up Scrafty. We have a battle."

Turning to face the way his father was pointing, Scrafty smirked upon seeing Morrison and his Girafarig, "Scraft!" He shouted, pounding his chest before crouching, getting ready to strike at Ash's command.

_Girafarig v.s Scrafty _

"A Scrafty, huh? Never battled one of 'dem before" Morrison said with a smile, looking towards his pokemon, "Let's get things rocking Girafarig! **Iron Tail!" **The normal/psychic pokemon let out a loud neighing sound as it ran towards Scrafty, its tail glowing bright silver as it swung it towards the dark/fighting pokemon.

"Grab its tail" Ash stated bordly, watching as Scrafty grabbed the giraffe pokemon's tail, "Lift up" Ash stated, watching as Scrafty easily lifted the Hoenn pokemon into the air, "Jump then **Spin Throw" **Everyone watched in shock as Scrafty easily lifted the 91.5 lbs. pokemon with no trouble before he jumped and spun his body around, swinging Girafarig around as he span, "Release" At the command from his trainer/father, Scrafty released his grip on the psychic pokemon before landing on the ground smoothly.

Girafarig let out a cry as it was flung through the air, sailing past its trainer and smashing into a tree behind Morrison., "Girafarig!" Morrison called out in shock and worry, watching as the psychic/normal pokemon slid down the tree and flopped onto the floor, swirls evadant in its eyes.

"Are you okay Girafarig?" Morrison asked his pokemon as he knelt down next to it, watching as the giraffe pokemon lifted its head tiredly with a nod, "Good...you did your best, now get some rest" Morrison sighed out in relief, recalling his fallen pokemon before returning to his side of the field, "Not bad at all - your pokemon are very strong, but let's see how you do againest my next one! Go, Gligar!" Ash watched as the pre-evolved pokemon appeared to the field as he recalled Scrafty silently, nodding at the poke'ball before he reached for his second pokemon, calling it out with a silent and bored look on his face.

"Gliscor!" Ash's own member of the Gligar family cried as it appeared to the field, turning and flying at Ash, who caught the over-friendly pokemon in a hug, "Nice to see you two Gliscor, but we have a battle" Ash stated in the friendlest voice the trio of siblings had heard come from the boys mouth, making them frown in confusion, "**Why is he so friendly with pokemon, but not with people?" **Darwin and Nicole thought, not noticing as the oldest of the three quietly snuck away.

* * *

"This is my chance..." Zack said quietly as he watched the battle in front of him, slowly and quietly taking steps away from his siblings before he was a good distance away, "Time to find out about Ash..." He whispered as he turned and tiptoed into the pokemon center.


	18. Research And Revelations

Sneaking away from the others, Zack made his way back into the pokemon center and over to the newly installed computers, "Time to find out about Ash.." Zack mumbled as he clicked on the trainer search tab and typed in Ash's name, watching as a picture of Ash almost immediately showed up on screen of a much younger, and much happier Ash, **_"Hm..this is an old photo from the looks of it" _**Zack thought as his eyes scanned a smiling Ash, "**_Let's see what it says about him..." _**Zack thought as he scrolled down the page that contained all the information about Ash.

* * *

"Whats that pokemon?" Morrison questioned whilst Ash patted Gliscor's head as he let go of the raven-haired boy, "He's called Gliscor - its the pokemon Gligar evolves into" Ash explained, his voice reverting back to its usual cold and empty sound, "I didn't know Gligar evolved..." Ash rolled his eyes at the ginger boy and shrugged, "Well he does - now are we going to battle or are you going to gawking at my pokemon?" Morrison seemed to blush at the question, shaking his head and putting on a battle ready look on his face.

"Let's win this Gligar!" Morrison shouted with a large grin, "Let's show him who the best member of the Gligar family is! Use **Steel Wing!" **Gligar grinned as it pushed itself into the air and glided towards Gliscor, its wings glowing bright silver.

"Hm." Ash raised a brow at the attack command as he looked at Gliscor boredly, "Dodge." Gliscor, with his tong sticking out as per usual, easily leaped to the side, avoiding his pre-evolution's attack, "**Ice Fang." **Gliscor grinned as it sprung forwards at impressive speed, his mouth wide open and his teeth glowing bright white as they sunk it Gligar's left wing, "Gar!" Gligar cried out in surprise at the quick movement of its evolution, and from the pain that was surging through its left wing.

"Now swing." Ash stated, watching as Gliscor - who still had his fangs sunk deep in Gligar's wing - began swinging the smaller pokemon around at tremendous speed, "Gligar!" Morrison shouted in surprise, having fallen into the swinging trap twice now, "Release" At his trainers command, Gliscor released his grip on his pre-evolution, sending it flying through the air where it bounced a few times before landing in a heap at Morrison's feet, swirls in its eyes.

* * *

Zack frowned as he began reading the information in front of him, "SoAsh is really from Pallet Town in Kanto? Hm..." Zack mused to himself as he read, "_**Why did he say he was from Sinnoh...?" **_The black haired boy pondered as he continued to read the information about Ash's journey through Kanto.

"So he lost in the Indigo League because his pokemon wouldn't listen to him? Huh...doesn't seem like Ash's pokemon wouldn't listen to him..." Zack continued to muse as he clicked on the video of Ash's defeat in the Indigo League, "Let's see...it says here he travelled around with two gym leaders called Misty and Brock...maybe i could call them and ask whats up with Ash...?" Zack thought aloud to himself as he continued scrolling through all of Ash's information, "_**wow...Ash sure did compete in a lot of tournaments...and he travelled with a lot of people, surely one of them must know whats up with Ash...**_"

Logging off the computer after noting down the different numbers of each of Ash's old travelling companions, Zack then made his way over to the phones, dialing in the first number and listening as it rang.

"Hello, This is Pewter City Gym - Gym Leader Forrest speaking" A strong, yet young male voice spoke up as the screen flashed an the image of a young boy came onto the screen, "Hello gym leader Forrest- i am looking for someone called Brock" Forrest nodded, his spiky brown hair swaying slightly as he nodded, "Understood - Brock! There is someone on the phone for you!" Zack heard the boy shout. A few seconds past until an older looking man appeared - he looked alot like Forest, except much older obviously.

"Hello - This is Brock Slate talking, may i ask who this is and where you are calling from?" The man asked politely, making Zack smile slightly at the politeness, "My name is Zack Wattson and i am calling form the Alola region" Brock raised a brow, clearly surprised to get a call from a region so far away, but nodded as he looked at Zack through the picture phone, "Ok, how may i be of service to you Zack Wattson of the Alola region?"

"I am calling to ask some questions about a boy called Ash Ketchum" The mention of Ash's name made the smiling and polite look on Brocks face vanish, it replaced with a frown and a dark look on his face, "What about him?" Brock stated, making Zack blink at the sudden change in attitude, "Well i am currently traveling with him, but he is very distant and doesn't seem to like anything or anyone other than his own pokemon - but based on what i have read, it doesn't seem like he was always this way, i was wondering if you knew anything about what happened to make him this way?"

If possible, Brock's look grew darker and his frown deepened, "I do not, sorry - now i have to go. Goodbye." He stated, quickly hanging up the phone before Zack could say anything, leaving the boy staring at the screen in confusion, a frown etched across his face.

**_"What was that i sensed from his aura? It felt like hatred..." _**Zack thought, shaking his head and resuming his calls to the others people Ash had travelled with.

* * *

"Gligar!" Morrison cried in shock - he hadn't expected his flying/ground pokemon to be beaten so quickly, or to have fallen for the same trick twice in a row! Rushing up to his fallen pokemon, Morrison knelt down and held Gligar up in his arms, "Are you okay Gligar?" "Gli..." Gligar grumbled, nodding its head afte opening its tired eyes with a small smile, making Morrison sigh in relief.

"You did your best buddy - take a good rest" Gligar smiled as Morrison returned it to it's poke'ball for a well earned rest. Standing up and moving back ot his side of the field, Morrison turned and looked across at Ash - who had returned Gliscor during his exchange - with hard eyes, "No more mesing around, let's see how you deal with this one! Go Steelix!"


	19. Battles Continued

Zack sat staring at the picture phone completely stumped, "why do they all feel the same kind of hatred...?" He whispered as he slowly hung up the phone and stood up - after talking to Brock, he had called almost everyone one of Ash's previous travelling companions, each of them reacting almost identically to how Brock had - the only person he couldn't get a hold of was Max Maple.

**_"What happened? I need to find Max Maple and ask..." _**Zack thought with a determined look on his face - he had managed to get hold of his older sister, but she wouldn't give hima specific location of her younger brother. In fact she seemed to feel the same kind of hatred when he had mentioned Ash when he mention the younger boy.

Going back to the computers, Zack typed in Max's name, watching as a screen much smaller than Ash's appeared on the screen, which he began to read, his eye lighting up when he realised the boy was last seen on his way to Alola, "I might just be able to track him down..." Zack whispered as he logged of the computer and stood up, looking around at the many trainers that filled the pokemon center, "Maybe one of these guys or girls knows anything about Mr. Max Maple..." He whispered to himself as he began asking the trainers and staff around him about the young trainer.

* * *

"Hm, a Steelix..." Ash mumbled to himself as he reached to his belt, selecting a poke'ball and throwing it the field as silently as he did with the others, "Float!" Floatzel yawned, stretching his long orange furred arms as he appeared to the field, "Get ready Floatzel. We have a challenger" Floatzel blinked, turning away form Ash and towards Morrison and Steelix, an excited glint appearing in his eyes as he laid them upon the two challengers, "Floatzel!" He cried loudly, flexing his arms as he prepared for battle, crouching slightly as he waited for his first instruction.

"Don't think your gunna win just 'cuz you have the type advantage!" Morrison hollored, making Ash roll his eyes - he knew after a lot of training and experience that type matchup was only one part of a battle, it required strategy to win. And communication between pokemon and trainer of course.

"Let's do this buddy! Start things of with **Dragon Breath!" **Morison commanded, watching as the giant steel snake pokemon took a deep breath before shooting its attack towards Floatzel, "**Aqua Jet ****Spin" **Floatzel smirked as he surrounded himself with water and jetted towards the incoming attack. At the last second he spun, dodging the attack before heading straight towards Steelix.

"Use **Iron Defence!" **Steelix reacted quickly, its body shinning a bright silver as it glistened in the sunlight that bore down on the field. Floatzel grunted in pain as he struck the iron clad pokemon, bangign his head straight againest the hardened steel, making him fall back, grabbing his head in pain, "Are you okay Floatzel?" Ash asked calmly, watching as Floatzel, still holding his head, turned back and nodded, shooting ash a thumbs up with the hand that wasn't holding his head.

"Hm..." Ash pondered, raising Floatzels poke'ball and returning him silently, leaving the other's in confusion, "Thats enough of that, ill let you have the win for that one." Ash stated calmly, "Why? I thought Floatzel was okay?" Ash rolled his eyes once more as he sighed and coldly explained the situation to the others, "Floatzel is a pokemon of pride - or at least mine is, the damage done by headbutting an defenced buffed Steelix would have done more damage than he was letting on. I do not want to see my pokemon in any more pain than necessary" Morrison looked at Ash with a new found respect - despite the cold and ruthless approach he had to people, he obviously knew his pokemon well, and he cared about them immensely: which was something the ginger haired boy could understand to some degree.

"Well then...good job Steelix!" Morrison quickly recovered from his surprise, smiling towards the large iron snake pokemon, who let out a roar of victory, "Don't let it get to your head - i only withdrew from the fight because the damage would have been more than Floatzel was letting on, not because you actually defeated him" Ash quickly shot the boy down coldly as he reached for his next poke'ball, throwing it into the air and watching as Talonflame appeared in a bright light, "Let us continue" Ash stated, not caring for the upset look Morrison was sporting.

Shaking his sadness at his victory being made null and void, Morrison looked at Talonflame with a smirk, "A flying type? Bad choice againest a steel! Let's show 'em some guts! Use **Thunder Fang!" **Steelix let out another booming roar as it began slithering towards Talonflame at impressive speed, its mouth wide open and its square teeth crackling with electricity.

"Up in the air." Ash instructed, hiding the fact that he was impressed at the sped of the steel type as he watched his flying/fire type easily dodge the incoming electric attack by flying high up into the air, "**Double Agility" **Morrison, Nicole and Darwin blinked in confusion at the command. Nicole and Darwin watched the Kalos native pokemon closely, intrigued by the command from Ash.

Morrison's eyes widened in shock as not dozens, but hundreds of copies of Talonflame appeared in the sky. Before he could blink again, the hundreds of copies (and the real one) all began zooming around the sky at a speed so fast it was like a blur of red and black feathers.

"Shit..." Morrison cursed under his breath as he strained his eyes to try and keep track on the speeding copies, but to no avail - the clones were simply moving to fast to be picked up by the human eye.

Steelix on the other hand was faring far worse. The iron snake pokemon was staring at the sky, its eyes darting backwards and forwards rapidly as it tried to keep up with the blur of a pokemon, "Keep calm buddy!" Morrison shouted to his pokemon, clenching his fists as he thought of how to counter, "Spin and use **Dragon Breath!" **Steelix nodded as it began to spin the top half of its body, shooting the blazing attack towards the clones.

"Divert." Ash called out, watching as the clones each maneuvered away from the incoming attack - out of the hundreds of clones, only a couple dozen ended up being wiped away from the attack, much to Morrison's dismay.

Ash let a small smirk cross his face - a smirk so small it was almost unseeable, but Nicole managed to notice it, "**_Is he...smirking?" _**She thought to herself as she looked at the raven haired boy, "_**H-he's...he's enjoying himself..." **_She thought once more, her eyes widening in shock at the fact that Ash was actually having fun for the first time since they had met.

Shivering, Ash glanced towards Nicole upon getting the shiver, his smirk dropping when he saw her shocked look, "Let's finish this quick. **Flame Charge. **Aim for It's tail" The hundreds of Talonflame clones all became surrounded in flames before they began charging towards Steelix, who was panicking at the sight of so many fire birds heading towards it.

"Use **Dig **to get away!" Morrison called out desperately, but Steelix was panicking to much to obey the command. Instead the iron snake pokemon let out a loud cry of pain and shock as the clones disappeared and the real Talonflame struck the end of its tail at full speed, "Steel!" It cried in shock and pain, but grunted and lifted its tail up, swiping it againest Talonflame and sending it flying back into the air.

"**_Hn. Quick reflexes. Not bad"_** Ash thought to himself as he watched Talonflame regain his position in the air, flapping his wings slowly as he stared Steelix down, "**Flamethrower" **"Meet it with your **Dragon Breath!" **Morrison called out after Ash's command, watching as the two pokemon took deep breaths before shooting their attacks out.

The two attacks collided, the stream of dragon power and the stream of red flames pushing againest each other until a loud explosion happened, sending dust and debri flying up, "Quick, use **Dig!" **Steelix quickly reacted, beginning to burry down under the ground, "Wait till its under ground." Morrison and the others blinked in confusion for the millionth time at Ash's command, "**Heat Wave **across the ground" Morrison's eye brows shot up in confusion and surprise at the command, watching as Talonflame shot out the slightly weaker version of **Flamethrower **across the ground after landing in front of Ash.

It soon hit Morrison what Ash's plan was, "Get out the ground Steelix!" But it was too late. Thanks to the heated flames skimming across it, the gorund had turned red, the tufts of grass that had been spread out now on fire.

"Side ways **Steel Wing" **Ash continued, watching as Talonflame flew up before his wings turned bright silver and he flew at the gorund, turnign sideways, his wings easily breaking through the weakened ground.

"Rarg!" Everyone heard Steelix cry in shock as the ground above it gave way, "Stop." Ash stated, watching as Talonflame stopped his attack and flew back to Ash. Ash watched as the ground crumbled and gave way on top of Steelix, who was busy trying to emerge from the fallen rocks.

"That was incredible!" Nicole and Darwin gasped in shock as Morrison ran to the crumbled ground, which had already started to cool down thanks to the exposed air, "Steelix! Steelix, are you okay?!" Morrison cried out desperately as he dug through the rubble, finally coming across his steel pokemon, who was lying with swirls in its eyes, "Return Steelix..." Morrison said somberly as he climbed out of the small crater.

"Thats enough." Ash stated, making everyone look at him confused once more, "I don't want pokemon to get hurt more than possibly need to - and the past three battles have shown me your strength." Morrison frowned but nodded in agreement as he walked round the crater and towards Ash, "Your right...i don't want my pokemon to get hurt, so let's call it a match" Morrison sowerly admitted, a defeated look on his face.


	20. You Shouldn't Have Done That Zack!

"Hey, where's Zack?" At the mention of the boys name, Ash and Morrison turned away from each other and towards Nicole and Darwin - Nicole had been the one who had FINALLY noticed that the oldest of the triplets was missing, "He must have gone for a walk or something...thought i wonder why he would watching this battle?" Darwin concluded with a question, making Ash shrug, "Who cares - now," Ash stated, turning back to face a defeated Morrison, "Go see Nurse Joy" He commanded, making Morrison nod as he walked past Ash slowly before sprinting into the pokemon center, worry etched across his face for the well being of his three fallen pokemon.

"Aren't you going to go see Nurse Joy to Ash?" Ash rolled his eyes and shook his head in a "No" motion, "I don't need her to tell me how my pokemon are, i know myself - go find your brother. We have wasted enough time today. I will be waiting on the edge of the city" Ash stated as he recalled Talonflame before walking away from the duo, who both stood frowning as they watched the boy walk away.

* * *

"Do you know about someone called Max Maple?" Zack continued to ask people on the street after leaving the pokemon center - he had got some good information, but he was hoping to get some more, "Max Maple?" A woman said questionably, "Thats the younger brother of May Maple from Hoenn right? I believe that ship will be coming in soon - so if you want to catch him, you best make your way to the mariner"

Not questioning how the woman knew so much, Zack thanked the lady and began running towards the mariner, the place were the boats came in and out of Alola.

_HOOONNNKKKKKK!_

The sound of a boat honking made Zack speed up as he turned a corner quickly, running down the slop that lead into the mariner, "Finally...made it..." Zack gasped out as he stopped by the docks, hands on his knees as he fought to catch his breath. Once catching his breath and standing up straight, Zack looked around, his eyes falling on a boat that had "HOENN LINER" written across the side, "He must be on that boat..." Zack mumbled as he watched the boat dock and the stairs get attached to the side of the boat.

Quickly moving to the boat, Zack stopped every person who came off the boat until he came across a young boy, "Excuse me, are you perhaps Max Maple?" The young boy looked confused and slightly shocked before slowly nodding, using his left hand to poush up his thick-rimmed glasses, "Yes sir - my name is indeed Max Maple" Zack wanted to cheer as the smiled down at the 14-15 year old boy, "Thank goodness, i have been asking everyone about you"

"So you have heard of me before? wow, i didn't think coming up 18th place in the Hoenn league would make me so famous" Max stated with a smile, "Did you want a autograph or something?" Zack chuckled slightly at the boys excitement and shook his head, "No, nothing like that, i just have a few thing i wanted to ask you in regards to one of your old travelling companions"

"My old traveling companions? Well i've travelled around with quiet a few people now...so which one did you want to know about?" "Ash Ketchum" The name of Ash made the smile of Max's face drop as his face turned pale, "U-u-urm..w-who?" He stammered out, his face paler than a sheet, making Zack's eyebrow raise as he repeated the name, "Ash, Ash Ketchum is who i want to know about"

Max slowly and shakily took a breath as he shook his head, "I-i'm sorry...i-i don't know anything about anyone called A-Ash K-K-Ketchum" He lied through his teeth. Zack looked at him with a "do i look stupid?" look and a raised eye brow, "Your lying" Zck simply stated as he stared at the younger boy, "I did some research and i know you travelled around with Ash back during his Hoenn adventure with Brock Slate and your sister" The mention of the two made Max's face - if possible - go paler.

"I-I-I-I..." He stammered out, his eyes darting around, looking for any way to avoid the conversation, "Zack!" A voice suddenly shouted, making Zack look away from Max for a second, which gave Max his chance as he turned and ran away, "Wh-hey! stop!" Zack called out, giving chase to the boy as he ran past his two siblings who has called his name, leaving them with confused looks as thy followed after there brother.

* * *

"Where are they?" Ash grumbled as he tapped his foot impatiently, looking up at the slowly descending sun before looking around in irritation, "They should know i am not one for waiting" He continued to mumble as he looked to Pikachu, who was busy licking out of a bottle of ketchup. "You and your bloody ketchup - where did you even find that thing?" Ash voiced in confusion as he looked at the happy yellow pokemon, who jsut gave him a grin, his teeth red from the ketchup.

"Wait!" Ash heard a familiar voice shout, making him look away form Pikachu and towards the south of where he was standing, only for someone to run into him, "Oomph!" Max exclaimed in surprise as he fell backwards onto his butt, flinching as he hit his tail bone on the floor, "Ouch..." He mumbled as he slowly stood up, "S-Sorry sir! I-i'm jus tin a big rus-" Max started, stopping when he looked at Ash's blank look, going silent as he looked at the man in front of him.

Studying Ash for a second, Max's face went even whiter when he noticed the happy-ketchup-eating Pikachu on the boy's shoulder, "Y-Y-Y-Y-Your..." He stammered out, taking a step back with each stammer, making Ash raise his brow as he looked over the boy.

"_**Something about this kid is familiar" **_Ash thought as he looked over the boy with a blank look. He was shorter than Ash by a good foot and a half, with short, shaggy blue hair and thick-rimmed glasses, "Max! Wait!" Ash froze at Zack's words, looking down at the boy with a more hardened, cold look, "Max..." Ash growled out, watching as the boy took a few steps back in fear, "So...i guess i wasn't lucky enough to avoid you traitors." Ash stated coldy, turning away as Zack and the other's caught up, "Leave my presence at once" He stated once more, his blood boiling with anger.

"That gos for you three as well," Ash continued as he looked away from a terrified Max and towards the triplets, "I don't want to travel with you three anymore. I will find my own way, and will work with you when the time comes. Till then we are going are separate ways" Ash stated as he began walking away, only to stop when a sudden vibration erupted from behind him, making hi stop and turn to see an angry looking Zack.

"You know what? No. No. I'm done dancing around this shit! I don't know what happened in your past, but i plan to find out so i can figure out how to stop you being like this! I read your profile Ash Ketchum! I know you weren't always like this!" Hearing that Zack had been doing some snooping on his past made Ash's calm demeanor change. His eyes hardened to an ice coldness that Zack and the other's had never seen from human eyes.

"You know nothing." Ash bellowed loudly, his voice echoing around them as he ran up to Zack, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him againest a tree, "You know nothing about me - so stop trying to change me because it won't work. You shouldn't have looked me up. You shouldn't have looked for this piece of shit that calls himself a trainer!" Ash roared as he held the struggling boy againest the tree.

"You want to know why i am like this?! Your hell bent on changing something that was broken, spit out and then set on fire over 7 years ago. I am a lost cause, and you want to know why?!" Ash seethed as he slammed the boy against the tree with each word, his eyes tinting red as the anger coursed through him, "If you so DESPERATELY want to know, ask that piece of shit over there what happened? I'm sure he is proud of it!" Ash roared one last time, dropping the boy before turning and walking away, Pikachu hot on his heels after glaring at the 4 trainers before following his trainer loyaly.


	21. At Long Last: The Past Is Revealed

Zack gasped for air as he slid down the tree, his eyes wide as he stared after Ash, who quickly disappeared among the foliage and tree's around them, "W-What was that?" Nicole whispered as she and Darwin ran up their shell-shocked brother, who just sat rubbing his neck, which would soon bare buises thanks to Ash's tight grip, "I was chasing after Max, but i guess he ran into Ash.." Zack mumbled out as he slowly stood up and turned to Max, who stood shaking a few feet away, "Please Max - please tell us what happened" Zack begged the young boy whilst still rubbing his neck.

Max took a deep breath in order to calm himself down ebfore slowly nodding, "O-Okay..but not here...w-we should find somewhere quiet...d-do you guys know this area well? Do you know of anywhere we could go?" Zack and his siblings nodded towards Max in confirmation as they began walking in a slightly different direction than Ash had walked off.

* * *

Walking into a near-by cave as dark thunder clouds began to pass overhead, Zack and the others ducked inside just as the first rain drops hit the ground, followed by another and another until it was pouring down, "So...what happened?" Zack spoke up as he looked at Max, who chosen to sit down further back in the cave, walking closer and sitting cross legged besides his siblings, who had already made themselves comfortable.

"It's a long story...and a sad one at that...a-are you sure you want to know?" Max asked, hoping the trio would say no, but to no avail as the trio nodded their heads firmly - they want to know why Ash was so cold towards everyone except his own pokemon.

"Well...it happened 7 years ago..."

* * *

_"Something's wrong..." Ash thought as he looked around the living room, his eyes moving from each person to person that took up the packed room. Surrounding the ten-year-old were all of his traveling companions, his rivals and even other trainers he had formed bonds with. To the left was Brock and Misty, both leaning againest the door frame that lead into the kitchen, and both sporting unreadable looks - or at least Ash couldn't read what they were feeling of thinking._

_Standing in the other door frame, the one that lead to the front door and the stairs was May, Dawn, Zoey and Max, all four of them were avoiding eye contact with Ash for reasons that Ash couldn't figure out, so he mentally shrugged and looked towards the two sofas, where sat Iris, Cilan, Cameron, Trip, Paul and Barry, all of them looking at Ash with blank looks, and finally, to the left wall stood Richie and AJ. Ash noticed that the only people really missing from the room was his Kalos traveling companions as well as Gary, Tracy, the Professor and his mom - but it was to be expected, as Serena had left for Hoenn and Clemont and Bonnie had remained in Kalos: as to why Gary, Tracy, the professor and his mom weren't around, Ash hadn't the faintest clue._

_"Wow! Did you all come to see me? Thats great! It's great to see you all again!" Ash exclaimed, pushing the bad feeling into the depths of his stomach as they looked around the room with a wide smile, ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of his head._

_A moment of silence rang throughout the room, making Ash feel more and more uncomfortable as the minutes ticked by, "So..." Ash continued, trying to engage the others, and attempting to break the awkward feeling that was in the room, "Its really great to see you all!" Ash tried once more, watching as Brock - who had been leaning againest the other door frame next to Misty - pushed himself and took a deep sigh, "Ash...about your last league participation..." _

_Ash suddenly smiled at the mention of the last league he had participated in, "I know! It was such a close match! But i guess Alain wanted the win more," Ash said with a smile, the smile slowly fading as he noticed the cold look on Brocks face, "Thats the thing Ash - it was close, to close, something wasn't right about that battle" Ash blinked in confusion as he looked at Brock, "What do you mean?"_

_"What Brock means," The voice of the professor suddenly interrupted, making Ash turn to see Professor Oak, Gary, Tracy and his mother emerging from the Kitchn, all wearing grim looks on their faces, "We all know that Alain used mega evolution on his Charizard - but its what happened with your Greninja that has us all stumped"_

_"What? the whole transformation thing?" Nods from everyone made Ash smile as he shrugged stupidly, "I don't really get it either - but i think its a special bond that me and Greninja shared that caused that" _

_"LIER!" Barry suddenly blurted out, making Ash blink and recoil in surprise, "What?" Ash voiced his confusion at the words, looking at everyone as they all nodded at Barry's words as he sat back down and Oak stepped forwards, "I'm sorry Ash - whilst we would like to believe what you say - nothing like that has ever happened before, so we are sceptical that you may have..."_

_"May have what?" Ash slowly asked, still confused with a slightly hurt tone in his voice that they didn't believe him, "That you cheated!" Gary finally said after a few moments of silence from the professor, making Ash recoil once more in shock, "Cheated?"_

_"Yes cheated my boy," Oak finally spoke up with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, "In all my years of research, i have never come across this kind of thing, except when trainers used performance enhancer drugs on their poke-" "Whoa, Whoa! Drugs?! You think i drugged Greninja?!" A chorus of nods through out the room made Ash's mouth fall open, "Thats not the only thing we are concerned about Ash" Oak continued, wringing his hands in an almost nervous motion._

_"Huh?" Ash said softly, still trying to get his head around the idea that they were accusing him of cheating - and of drugging his pokemon! _

_"Look Ash, whether you cheated is neither here nor there, but the fact is you lost another major league battle" Misty spoke up, her arms crossed and a cold look on her face, "We all agreed that you should give up and being a pokemon trainer" Ash just gaped - he couldn't believe what he was hearing! For one they were accusing him of cheating, using drugs on his pokemon, and now they wanted him to quiet being a pokemon trainer! _

_"Haha! Good one you guys - you sure had me going there!" Ash laughed a few seconds later with a smile. But his smile faded when he noticed the serious looks on their faces, "Wait...your all serious?" Another chorus of nods made Ash recoil once more in shock and hurt, "Why would i give up my dream? More importantly, why would i resort to drugs to win? Besides that, if i had used drugs, wouldn't i have won?" _

_"Because your such a kid!" Iris spoke up, jumping from the sofa and jabbing a finger in Ash's chest, "Only a little kid like you would hold on to dreams that aren't realistic! And only a little kid would resort to cheating to win a battle, only to loose because there to childish to think of a good strategy!" Ash blinked slowly, tears welling in his eyes at each word, "You-You can't mean that..." Ash whispered, watching as Iris scoffed before crossing her arms._

_"I've never meant something in my life! We all feel the same way! Right everyone?!" Everyone nodded in agreement, each of them speaking up one after another, each one breaking Ash's heart._

_"I thought after you beat me that you were a competent trainer - but i guess i was wrong since you resorted to cheating" Paul started, his normal cold demeanor seeming even colder, "Not only did you cheat, but you lost. You lost when you clearly should have one - i guess you are a pathetic trainer" He finished, making Ash hiccup softly as tears began falling down his face._

_"We looked up to you as a mentor" May started up next, indicating to her and Max whilst avoiding eye contact with the raven-haired boy, "But then you go and pull a stunt like that? I guess we were wrong to look up to you" _

_"I told you i would find you next time i see you!" Barry chirped up with a smile, the smile fading quickly and being replaced by a fine, "I never really meant it, but after pulling a cheating stunt like that? I'm definitely going to find you!" That was the last straw for Ash as he shook his head, the tears flying of his face as he shook his head, "Mom...how can you stand their and let them say this?" Ash croaked out, making one last attempt for backup._

_Delia just shook her head as she walked up to her son, laying a hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her, "I'm sorry Ash...i was going to talk to you in private but they insisted on joining me. After seeing you jump from the Lumiose tower, i just...i just can't see you in that kind of danger again...please lsiten toy our friends..." Delia begged, taking the last bit of Ash's heart with her words._

_"Friends? FRIENDS?! These people are no friends of mine! What friend tells someone to give up their dream?! And what kind of mother tells their son to give up?! I have worked my whole life on giving Pallet town something to be proud of! Does that mean nothing to you?! To ANY of you?!" Everyone jsut looked away from Ash as he shook in anger, "I'm leaving" He stated, making them all look at him in confusion, "What do you mean?" _

_Ash glared at his mother's words, making her recoil at the coldness in his gaze, "I said i'm leaving - im taking my pokemon and i'm never coming back"_

_"I'm afraid you can't do that Ash," Ash blinked his now cold eyes at Oak as he spoke, "Because I believed that you cheated, i have revoked your trainers licence, so you are no longer legally able to train pokemon. Please hand your pokemon over quietly" _

_"Pik-CHUUUU!" Pikachu suddenly screamed, shocking the professor - who was walking closer to Ash with the intent of taking his pokemon, "Thanks Pikachu" Ash thanked the small pokemon, quickly stepping back in time so Oak missed his belt, "I don't care what you say Oak - revoke my licence, take my pokedex" Ash started, taking his pokedex out and throwing it at the old mans feet, 2But you can't take my pokemon away from me."_

_"He didn't have to, most of them dont want to be with you anyway" Iris pipped up with a smirk, "We spoke to your pokemon and they agreed - they think you cheated, and that your not worthy of being your trainer, if you don't believe us, go see yourself!" Ash just shot Iris the finger, making everyone gasp, especially his mother - who had to wonder where her son had picked up such a sign from?!_

* * *

"...Ash left the house and we followed him to the ranch - and Iris wasn't lying. Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilian all spoke to his pokemon before hand and a lot of them agreed to leave Ash in favour of being their pokemon instead...A few of Ash's pokemon went with him, but a majority of them were taken by the others" Max finished sadly, watching as Shock ran throughout the triplets faces at the deep wound that had been imbedded in Ash's heart.


	22. Some Results

"How could you do that?" Nicole was the first one to speak, her voice cracking from the anger she felt - thought she and her brothers didn't care for Ash attitude towards them and other people, they now understood the depe wound that Ash carried with him that made him the way he was.

"There's more...this is a bit better information that even Ash doesn't know about" Max spoke softly, not looking the three in the eyes as he continued to tell his story.

* * *

_It didn't take long for word of Ash's Ketchum's disappearance to spread through out Kanto and the other regions pokemon leagues, all of who owed a lot to Ash for stopping the evil organisations, in some cases saving the region from near destruction._

_Lance of the Kanto league was the first to hear of Ash __disappearance, and set out to gather information on why the young boy with so much potential had disappeared form the battling circuit for seemingly no reason. Lance knew that Mr. Ketchum had traveled with two of the people he had given the title of gym leaders, so he thought that would be a good place to start._

_Asking the two gym leaders gained the man very little information, as they lied through their teeth - claiming they hadn't heard form Ash in years. So lance's next step was to ask Professor Oak, the man who gave Ash the means to become a pokemon trainer in the first place - surely he would know, being that Oak was supposed to keep in constant contact with every trainer he sent of into the world of pokemon training._

_Oak was a better resource for information. He told Lance what happened between Ash, himself, his mother, and his friends - which left Lance gob smacked and absolutely furious. It was known around the regions that the regional professor could revoke a trainers licence, but every professor knew that he/she would need to go through the region's champion with substantial evidence in order to fully revoke a licence._

_Furious with Oak and his clear disinterest in doing thing the way they were supposed to be done, Lance tore Oak a new one, demanding to know of the location's of Ash's old "friends", as he knew that Oak wouldn't have kept stolen pokemon with him, instead having distributed them among other trainers._

_However - professor Oak felt no sympathy for Ash, or any regret for what he had done. With that in mind, he refused to give out the names of the trainers that had been present in the room, and what pokemon had technically been stolen, justifying his actions by saying he was doing the best for Ash and his pokemon._

_"Bullshit Oak, you tore the boy down because you saw him as a threat, you saw him as competition. His Pokemon did not betray him over night, they were convinced, you were planning this and it was premeditated."_

_Oak stood their defiantly - he knew what he had done was wrong, but he didn't care. In his own mind he had done the right thing - so he continued to refuse the names and locations of the others. Seeing as Lance only knew of Brock and Misty, he had to rely on information form the other leagues, but for the time being he had to deal with the two thief's that held spots in his gyms._

* * *

"As far as i know, Brock and Misty lost their places as gym leaders - i don't know what happened with everyone else except my sister, who was banned from entering contests - all of them blame Ash for what happened even thought its their own faults" Max continued slowly, blinking tears away form his eyes, "I-I never took any of Ash's pokemon, so they never took my licence away, but i have always regretted what happened that day...i came to Alola hoping to get a new start, but i didn't expect to run into the past" Max finished, lifting his head to look at the three, who bore furious/yet confused looks on their faces.

"Let me see if i understand..." Darwin spoke slowly, the only one of the three who was managing to keep his composure, "You and many of Ash's "friends" decided he cheated and wasn't worthy of being a trainer, so you betrayed his friendship and some of you basically stole his pokemon" Max nodded solemnly at the words, flinching slightly at the monotone sound of the boys voice.

"But, unbeknownst to Ash - the others have basically been caught out in what happened, have lost their careers and all but blame Ash for what has happened?" Max once again nodded, confirming Darwin's summery of what he had told them.

"No wonder Ash is so none-trusting" Zack finally spoke up, taking a slow shaky breath in order to stay calm, "I want to know why? Why would you and the others do that to Ash? I may not have known him for long, but even i can tell he is a fantastic trainer who would never cheat, and one who cars for his partners deeply"

Max sniffed as small tears fell down his face, hiccuping slightly as he started to talk once more, "I-I...I don't have any excuse really" He admitted in defeat, raising a hand to wipe his tears away, "i was only 8 at the time, and i had always looked up to Ash as my hero - but when everyone started saying he had cheated, i become confused and disheartened that my hero had resorted to cheating in order to win"

"But as time went by, i did research and found there was no known pokemon drug that could do what happened to his pokemon - i was convinced the others had to be wrong, and i was riddled with guilt after what i had done, having not stood up for someone who had allowed me to travel with him, even though i wasn't a trainer and couldn't offer anything to his journey"

"I looked everywhere for Ash so i could tell him how i felt, but i could never find him - eventually i gave up, accepting that i had screwed up big time, and there was no way i would get a chance to rectify what i had done" Max finished with a sigh, "After giving up, i decided to travel to a different region for a new start - but i didn't expect to run into you guys, or Ash..."

"well...why don't you tell Ash how you feel? maybe he will understand..." Nicole spoke up slowly, making Max shake his head, "Nothing i say could ever make up for what i did..."

"He's right you know" A sudden voice interrupted them, making them all turn towards the mouth of the cave, only to see a soaked Ash and Pikachu staring at them with a cold look.

"Ash? How long have you been there?" "Long enough to know you know about my past, and long enough to know how Max feels towards me" Ash retorted sharply as he took a few steps into the cave, using his hand to move his soaked hair out of his eyes so he could look at the four trainers, "The only thing i can say si that he is right - nothing he can say or do will ever make up for what happened" Ash stated after a few seconds of staring at them, making Max look down sadly, "But i am glad to here that the others got what is coming to them - i also have some questions of my own that i want you answer"

Max just nodded slowly in confusion, confused as to how and why Ash had found them after declaring he was leaving.

"What became of the others? Also, why did my pokemon betray me, and who ended up with them?" Max blinked slowly before deciding to tell the truth, believing it was the least he could after what he did, "I don't really know what became of the others, as they all elft for their own regions - i'm guessing the same thing that happened to Brock and Misty is what happened to the others"

"As for your pokemon, i only know what May told me" Max spoke truthfully, watching as Ash crossed his arms, waiting for the boy to continue, "May told me that the Professor...or ex-professor sold your Tauros to safari zones around the world. As for you other pokemon, I honestly don't know - May wouldn't tell me who got who, no matter how many times i asked her"

Ash closed his eyes before nodding and turning away, "Good to know." He stated as he disappeared back into the thickness of the storm that fell over Alola, "Wait! Ash!" Zack called out, cursing as Ash didn't look back, completely disappearing into the craziness of the storm.


	23. Realization

Ash stopped walking once he was a good distance away from the cave, looking up at the storm filled clouds and allowing the rain to fall over his face, "I thought we were done with them - this is all the legendaries fault" Ash spoke coldly, his eyes reflecting his cold voice, "Why can't they look after the world by themselves? Why do they always need a human to interfere and save the goddamn world?" Ash mused ot himself as he lowered his head, running a hand through his dripping hair.

"Pikapi..." Pikachu pipped up, making Ash look to his longest and most loyal partner, who was stood under a tree trying to protect himself from the rain, "Sorry bud...i guess we should find a place to hide out until the rain passes over.." Pikachu shot him a "duh" look as Ash began weaving his way through the tree's, stopping when he came across a large cavern, "This will do" Ash stated as Pikachu ran into the dimly lit cavern, followed closely by Ash.

Walking into the cavern, Ash took noticed of how large the area was, _**"Not a bad place to let the other's out..." **_He thought as he reached to his belt, stopping when he heard a hissing sound followed by cooing. Looking around, Ash finally noticed the many different pokemon residing in the cavern, having had the same thought as him - using the cavern to get away from the pouring rain._**  
**_

"I'm sorry," Ash stated into the cave, watching as the pokemon emerged from their hiding spots at the apology, "I am just like you, i have only come into get away from the rain - i am not here to capture you, but i do wish to release my other pokemon, does anyone have a problem with that?" Silence was what Ash was met with, indicating to him that it was alright, making him nod and say thank you before releasing his pokemon into the cavern.

"Rawg!" All his pokemon roared, making the other pokemon in the cave cower at the sheer power Ash's pokemon displayed simply by appearing from their poke'balls. Ash shook his head and held his finger to his lips, "Quieten down everyone - there are many other pokemon here that don't take kindly to being scared, and i do not wish to scare them as they are only in here to escape the rain" Ash's pokemon blinked and looked around, apologetic looks crossing their faces as they noticed the other, cowering pokemon around them.

Watching as his pokemon dispersed around the cave, Ash found a large, moss covered rock and sat down, shaking the water from his hair as he did so, "This "journey" to save the goddamn world is becoming more and more annoying..." Ash mused to himself as he leaned back ont he rock, allowing the fuzzy moss underneath him to seep through his fingers.

A little while past of pure silence, which Ash welcomed - it had been a little while since he had had pure silence, especially thanks to the other, loud mouth trainers that made up the region of Alola.

Sighing and sitting up straight whilst hanging his arms over his legs, Ash looked around at the mix of his own and the wild pokemon that took up a majority of the cavern. Other than his own pokemon, Ash noticed there were quiet a few Growlithe's, Makuhita's and Spearow's. As well as many pokemon that Ash didn't recognize, "**_I bet that nosy shit Zack would know what those pokemon were..._**" He thought as he looked away, cursing to himself when he realized something.

"If that shit Zack has been digging around in my past...he may have contact those traitors, which means they know where i...Shit..." Ash growled out as he quickly dismounted the rock and stood up, an urgent look on his face as he quickly gathered his pokemon together, "We can't waist any time, we need to get this thing over with before the traitors find us" Ash addressed his pokemon, all who looked confused at first but nodded slowly in agreement - once again, they didn't really know what their trainer was talking about, but Ash was always the one to make the right decision when it came to his own, and their safety.

"I guess if we want to get through this as fast as possible, we will be needing that fucker Zack and his two siblings..." Ash said coldly at the mention of Zack's name, "We will wait out the rain and then go and find them once more." Ash's pokemon all nodded in agreement, dispersing once more to find sutable placed to wait out the storm.

* * *

"You did what?!" Max gasped in shock, looking at Zack as if he was crazy, "You called everyone before you contacted me?! Are you insane?!" Zack and the other's blinked in confusion at the boys words, waiting for him to elaborate, "You don't understand what you have done! You have basically confirmed to everyone where Ash is! I told you that they all blame Ash, and no doubt they will come here looking for him!" Zack frowned a little at the boys words and tilted his head, "I don't think they would travel all the way here just for some petty revenge..."

Max face palmed at the boys ignorance before speaking once more, "You really don't get it do you?! Brock and Misty lost their Gyms! Cilian and Brock can't become pokemon doctors like they wanted to, and May can't compete in contests anymore! There careers as trainers is basically over, and they blame Ash! This isn't some petty revenge in their eyes! How can you not understand the gravity of what you have done?!"

Zack just continued to frown, followed by a glare to the boy, "Why am i the bad guy here? I just wanted to help Ash get over his past! I didn't think-" "Thats the problem! You didn't THINK!" Max quickly interrupted him whilst standing up, his fists clenched at his side, "Did you not think that it was best to leave him alone?! That maybe the past should be left in the past?! Now everything is fucked up and the others know where he is!"

Zack had the decentcy to look slightly guitly as he looked away from Max, "I-I only wanted to..." "I don't care what YOU wanted! This is just going to cause loads of shit that Ash will have to deal with! Don't you think he has been through enough?!" Max shouted, shaking his head as he began leaving the cave upon seeing the rain had began to calm down, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Ash - he may not want it, but he will need are help if and when the others come to confront him" Max said as he left the cave and began walking in the direction Ash had left. The others looked at each other before quickly standing and scampering after Max.


	24. After The Stormy Weather

Looking out with a faint smile, Ash let out a small sigh when he realized the rain had finally calmed down - or at least it had gone form full blown storm to light drizzle, something he could easily walk through, "Alright everyone, its time we set off looking for the other's" Ash stated ot his pokemon, watching as they all fell in front of him, allowing him to return them all, with the exception of Pikachu of course.

Once the poke'balls were back on his belt, Ash went to leave the cave, but not before he felt a tug at his ripped up pants, making him look down to see a baby Growlithe, "Hm? Did you want something pup?" Growlithe nodded as he nuged Ash's leg, sticking his tong out as he barked, indicating to one of Ash's poke'balls, "You want to come with me?" Growlithe nodded at Ash's words, making the 17-year-old frown as he looked around the cave, "Won't your parents have a problem with that?" At the mention of parents, Growlithe's ears drooped and a sad look crossed his face as he whimpered sadly, "You don't have parents...or at least there not here anymore...are they?"

Shaking his head, Growlithe let out a sad whine as he nudged his leg once more as Ash pulled out a spare poke'ball, kneeling down and tapping it againest the puppy pokemon's head. The middle of the poke'ball flashed red, signalling no fight for freedom as the fire type was instantly caught. Standing up slowly and resuming his effort to leave the cave, Ash glanced at Pikachu with a half smile, "Guess we got a new member to are family..." Pikachu just blinked and nodded slowly in agreement.

Finally exiting the cave, Ash took a second to look to the still slightly dull sky, "_**At least it's not as bright...**_" He thought as he looked around, trying to remember which way the cave the others had resided in was, "Think you could sniff out any nearby caves Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded and began sniffing the air, using his tail to point to the left, making Ash shake his head at his electric types ability to sniff caves out.

"I'll never understand how you can do that bud..." Ash said as he turned to the left and began walking.

* * *

"Do you even know where your going?" Max frowned and turned to face the other three, still unsure as to why they were even following him, "Not a clue - but i know Ash went in this direction, so that's where i'm going" "Shouldn't we just got to the site of the first trial? Ash will end up their eventually right?" Nicole pitched in softly, watching as Max blinked, tapping his chin in thought.

"Hmm...that does make sense..." He murmured softly as he looked at the three, "You guys know this reign well, right? Since Ash is going to the site, take me there" Zack frowned at the boys demanding tone, going to say something before Darwin elbowed him in the stomach, shaking his head in a no motion, indicting for him to drop it.

Zack sighed and nodded whilst holding his tong as he began walking to the left of where Max had been heading, "It's this way..." Max nodded silently as he began following the boy, his two siblings bringing up the rear as they discussed how to fix the mess that there older brother had caused.

* * *

"Pikapika!" Pikachu suddenly shouted, sniffing the air as Ash stopped walking, "Whats up?" Pikachu's nose and ears twitched softly before he tugged slightly on Ash's hair, indicating to the right, "There's something you want me to check out?" Pikachu nodded as Ash shrugged and began walking in the directio that Pikachu had pointed, stopping when he heard familiar voices, "Are we there yet?" Ash heard Max asked, followed by Zack sighing and replying with "Nearly"

"Well that was easy..." Ash mused as he stepped through the bushes so he was stood in their path, "At least i found you" Was the first thing Ash said as he stood in front of the four trainers, who blinked at the boys sudden appearance. Max sighed slightly in relief, taking a step towards Ash, making Ash's eyes harden and go cold.

Holding his hands up Max stood two-to-two with Ash before speaking, "I know we, and especially me, are the last people you want to talk to, but hear us out" "Why should i? What have you done to deserve me hearing you out?" Ash retorted sharply, watching as Max recoiled in surprise at the quick retort, "I am only searching for those three - thought i loathe to admit it, i need them. I don't know this region. I need someone who knows this region to tell me where the trial sites are" Ash continued, making Zack and the others frown at the fact Ash was just using them for his own benefit.

"I don't deserve to be heard but i am going to speak anyway, whether you chose to listen is up to you" Max finally replied, taking a deep breath before speaking, "I first wanted to say that i'm sorry about all those years ago - i know it means nothing to you, but i wanted to say it anyway" Max started, making Ash roll his eyes - he knew Max was just saying it to make himself feel a little better about what happened. It wasn't for him. it was for Max.

"The next thing is more important, so i suggest that you do listen" Max's tone and choice of words piped Ash's curiosity, making him raise a brow, choosing to listen to the boy in front of him, "There is a high possibility that the other's will search for you - since Zack called them," Max continued, glaring slightly back at Zack, making the boy blush and look down in guilt, befor ehe looked back to Ash, "They have more than likely gathered that this is the region you are in - i know you don't want their help, or mine, but there are more than ten of them and only one of you - i think having allies is better than trying to beat them on your own..."

Ash chuckled softly as the younger boy finished, making Max raise a brow, "You say your sorry, yet you still think i'm to weak to look after myself?" "Wha-No! Thats not what i meant!" "I know what you meant, and i dont want your help." Ash finished, looking past Max at the otehr three, "Now, we have waisted mroe than enough time, lets move on"

"But Ash..." Max tried once more, only to be ignored by Ash, as he coughed, causing the triplets to scurry past Ash and ahead, to which Ash followed them towards the first trial site, leaving Max in their dust.


	25. Trial Number 1

Regaining his composure, Max quickly followed after the four trainers, making sure to keep a small distance form them as he began to think of how he could change Ash's mind - a quest he knew wouldn't be easy.

So how far is the trial site?" Ash asked after walking for a few minutes, already growing impatient, "I-its not far from here...its inside a giant cavern" Zack answered slowly, not turning to look at Ash, still feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt over the whole situation. Ash just nodded, not caring that the blond haired boy refused to look at him as he took a second to think, "_**Maybe where i caught that Growlithe is where the trail site it..." **_

* * *

It didn't take long before Ash, Nicole, Darwin and Zack were stood outside the giant cavern that was the first site of the trials in Alola, "So this is the trial site? Will the captain be in here?" Ash voiced his thoughts, watching as the triplets all nodded in confirmation, "I will indeed be in there!" A voice suddenly exclaimed, making Ash grunt at the sudden loud voice as he turned his head to the side, noticing a young man approaching him and the others.

"Ah! Nicole, Darwin and Zack! Good to see you again!" The young boy voiced happily, making the three trainers smile slightly as they looked at him, "Good to see you again Ilima" Ilima grinned widely, his eyes sparkling slightly as he looked from the trio towards Ash, "Ah! So you must be the fourth chosen one that Professor Kukuie told us at that meeting! Its nice to meet you - i am the first trial captain, my name is Ilima, whats your name?" He said as he held his hand out for Ash to shake.

Ignoring the outstretched hand, Ash stared at the young captain with a blank look, "His name is Ash...sorry Ilima he isn't much of a talker" Nicole quickly explained as Ilima awkwardly withdrew his hand before nodding towards Nicole, his grin reappearing on his face, "Well! Let's not waist any time! Lets get your first trail going!"

Ash just nodded in confirmation, glad to finally be getting the first of however many trials that were started, "Well Ash, since this is your first time taking the trial, i guess i should probably start by explaining it" Ash rolled his eyes at the captains words - it was obvious that he would need to explain the trail, how else would the raven-haired boy complete it if he didn't know how?

"Its really quiet simple - you have to defeat me in a pokemon battle, then you have to defeat what is known as the totem pokemon - which is a pokemon fair larger than its normal species and far stronger" Ash just nodded as he watched Ilima pull a poke'ball out of his brown knee-cut trousers, "Fine. How many pokemon are we permitted to use?"

"Well I have three pokemon, but you may use as many as possible" Ilima explained smoothly as he threw his first poke'ball into the air, revealing a pokemon Ash had yet to see, "Darwin. What pokemon is that?" Ash asked as he looked form the small brown and cream pokemon and towards the dark haired boy, who blinked at the question as he pulled his pokedex out and pointed it at the pokemon that was new to Ash's eyes.

_Yungoose, The Loitering Pokemon._

_ With its sharp fangs, it will bite anything. It did not originally live in Alola but was imported from another region._

"Hm." Ash stated as he listened to the pokedex, looking at Pikachu and nodding, "Go for it." Pikachu grinned at the possibility of finally getting to battle as he leaped from Ash's shoulder, landing on all fours with static electricity crackling from his cheeks.

"You get the first move" Ash once again rolled his eyes - so far this was nothing more than a miss-titled gym leader battle, giving that he had to defeat the so called captain in a battle, "**Thunderbolt" **Ash stated, watching as Pikachu grinned, taking a deep breath before he shot his signature move towards the normal type in front of him.

"Use **Dig **to dodge!" Ilima commanded, watching as the small normal type quickly burred its way under ground, the electric attack firing past where it had once stood and hitting the cavern wall, shattering the rocks that made up the wall and sending debri flying up and over the battle field.

"**_That thins a fast little fucker...but this won't take long" _**Ash thought as he narrowed his eyes, easily seeing through the debri whilst Ilima was busy coughing and wafting at the air in an attempt to see the field, "**Iron Tail" **Pikachu, who was seemingly unaffected by the surrounding debri falling around him jumped into the air, swinging his silver glowing tail until it hit the gorund with a loud crush, sending the small Yungoose flying up into the air with large segments of rock following it.

"**Thunder Punch" **Leaping across the large rocks that had been thrown into the air, Pikachu darted towards Yungoose, his left fist raised and crackling with electricity as he swung, directly hitting the normal pokemon in the chest and sending it flying backwards. Were it crashed againest the same wall that Pikachu had destroyed before, the sharp spikes on the damaged wall piercing into the weak pokemon's body before it slid down, swirls in its eyes.


	26. Victory 1

"Whoa...did you see that?" Nicole whispered to her brothers as they watched the battle quickly come to an end, "He took down Ilima's Yungoose in less then a minute..." She continued in awe, amazed that Pikachu had been so quick to defeat a pokemon that Ilima had been training for many years.

"I liked it how Ash used Pikachu's **Iron Tail...v**ery creative..." Darwin replied softly after a few minutes of staring at the battlefield, nodding softly in an impressed way - which made Ash roll his eyes once more. The three had been present when he had battled Morrison, why were they so surprised by his pokemon's strength?

"That was impressive - its clear that i am not to underestimate you young man" Ash heard Ilima say as he recalled his fallen pokemon, a smile on his face - Ash just shrugged, he didn't care if people underestimated or overestimated his strength. He knew he was a decent battler before he made the island his home, and he knew that all his training on the island would eventually lead him to being a lot stronger and tougher to beat.

"Let's see how you do againest my next partner!" Ilima interrupted Ash's thoughts loudly, making Ash grunt at how loud the young captain was - it was downright irritating in Ash's mind. He sure as hell hoped that the battle would go by fast so he could leave the presence of Ilima. Whether Ilima knew about Ash's thought was unclear, but the boy bore a large grin as he threw his second poke'ball into the air, revealing a version of Persian that Ash had never seen before.

"Is that...a Persian?" Ash spoke slowly, his voice clearly fully of confusion, "Of course it's a Persian! And she's one of my strongest pokemon so you better be careful!" Ilima stated proudly, watching as Ash shrugged, making a mental note to ask the others about the strange looking pokemon later, "Pikachu - return" Pikachu nodded as the other's all looked on in confusion - the electric pokemon has taken literally no damage from the battle with Yungoose, so why was he returning him?

Ash didn't tell the others why he recalled Pikachu. In all honesty it was none of their business, and he didn't care enough to tell them, "Come forth" Ash started as he threw his poke'ball lazily into the air, a bored look on his face as Heracross appeared to the field, slamming his feet on the ground as he landed, his wings tucking themselves back inside his back.

"Hm, a Heracross" Ilima said with a smirk, "This won't be easy but let's show them the glory of Alola! Start things off with **Screech!" **The dark grey colored Persian smirked as she sat down, taking a deep breath before letting out a high pitched screech, forcing Nicole and her brothers top cover their ears from the high-pitchness of the screech.

Ilima - who was use to the sound of his pokemon's attack - gaped in surprise when Ash and Heracross just smirked at him, clearly unaffected by the high-pitched screech, "**Brick Break" **Ash instructed calmly, watching as his Heracross's wings reappeared as he flew through the sound waves that ecohed around the room, both his arms glowing brightly.

"Meet it with your **Slash!" **Persian reacted quickly, shutting her mouth and lunging forward swiping her glowing claws as Heracross brought his arms down. The two attacks collided, sending shock waves throughout the cavern as the two pokemon fought for control. In the end, both pokemon recoiled back, Persian skidding back towards Ilima and Heracross flying backwards towards Ash.

"Hm." Ash raised a brow as both pokemon skidded/flew back towards their respected trainers, making another mental note to do some special power training with Heracross at some point.

"Don't let up Persian! Use **Icy Wind!" **Ash raised a brow at the ice type move, watching as Ilima's Persian took a deep breath before shooting the cold blue colored wind towards his bug/fighting pokemon, "Fly over - follow with **Brick Blast**" Heracross smirked as he easily flew over the cold wind, that blew straight past him and Ash, hitting the triplets, who shivers, rubbing their arms form the unexpected coldness and confused looked on their faces at the attack name, "Brick blast?" Nicole voiced her confusion, looking at her brothers, who just shrugged. They didn't know of the attack either.

"Hera!" Heracross shouted as he lowered his arms, a rock beginning to form between the small palms on his hands. Raising his left arm that powered the floating rock, Heracross flung the arm forward whilst simultaneously bringing his bright shining right arm down, crushing the boulders as they left his hand and turning them into sharp sparks, which hurled towards Persian at lightning speed, "Shit...Dodge Persian!" Ilima cursed, calling out to his Persian who quickly began leaping around, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge all the incoming sharply shaped rocks, "Persian!" She cried as the sharp rocks pierced her skin, skidding back into a rock, leaving a small dent in said rock as she pushed herself up and shook the dirt from her coat.

"Per..." Persian growled as she turned to lick the wounds on her body, "Thats enough" Ilima suddenly stated, watching as Ash looked at him with a raised brow, "Persian is not fit to keep battling, plus i can tell tha you are ready to face the totem pokemon" Ash shrugged - he didn't show it, but he was thankful that Ilima had called the battle to a quick end. As much as he hated people, he didn't like hurting pokemon unnecessarily, and battling Ilima's third pokemon would be doing just that.

"Return Persian" Ilima stated as he held that dark pokemon's poke'ball up, watching as she disappeared in a flash of red light before pocketing the poke'ball, turning to face Ash and the other's and walking over to them with a smile, "You are indeed a strong and worthy opponent young man," Ash just nodded as he recalled Heracross, who was smiling victoriously at having won the battle.

"Follow me and i will lead you to the totem pokemon" Ash just nodded, following Ilima deeper into the cavern. The other's following swiftly behind, with the exception of Max, who hung back slightly so as not to be seen.


	27. Totem Raticate

"Its just through there" Ilima said as he came to a halt, stopping besides a large opening at the back of the cavern that lead outside, "Out there you will find a pedestal containing the normal Z crystal - just take it and the totem pokemon will appear" Ash nodded in understanding at first, a look of confusion crossing his face at the mention of Z-crystals, "The hell is a Z-Crystal?" Ash questioned, looking away from Ilima and towards the triplets.

"Z-Crystals are items you give to your pokemon so they can use an extraordinary strong move" Darwin explained, making Ash raise a brow, "They are a newly discovered item that are only found in the Alola region" Ash slowly nodded his head in understanding - being that he had never been to the Alola region, it was only natural that he had never heard of Z-Crystals, but they did intrigue Ash's curiosity.

"Fair enough" Ash stated as he looked away from the triplets and towards the entrance that lead to the totem pokemon, "Let's get this over with" He continued as he walked out the cavern and into a small opening surrounded by tree's and large boulders. In the centre was a brown and white pedestal with a diamond shaped object in the centre.

"_**Guess that's the Z-Crystal thing...**_" Ash thought as he walked up to the pedestal, looking at the white coloured crystal before reaching for it. As soon as Ash's fingers touched the crystal, the floor began to shake violently and a loud screech echoed around the small opening . Looking up, Ash's eyes widened as he laid eyes on what he presumed was the totem pokemon, "Holy shit..." "RATICATE!" The large pokemon roared as it slammed it's foot down before jumping of the large ledge that it sat on, landing in front of Ash whilst barring its fangs.

"Hn!" Ash grunted as he stepped back at the sheer size of the pokemon in front of him, "Just because your biz, don't think you will beat me - Pikachu" Ash proclaimed, nodding at Pikachu - who grinned and nodded back jumping of Ash's shoulder and landing in front of the Totem pokemon, his cheeks crackling with electricity.

"RAT!" The enormously sized Raticate cried as it swung its tail towards Pikachu, "Jump" Easily jumping out of the way of the swinging tail, which kept going, slicing through a tree trunk easily, making it fall down between the two battling pokemon with a audible "_Thud!" _

"RATI-CAAATTTTEEE!" Totem Raticate suddenly exclaimed loudly, pointing its head towards the sky. Pikachu's ears twitched as he suddenly jumped, two black blurs rushing past him and to Totem Raticate's side. "What the-?!" "Totem pokemon often call for help from pokemon of the same species" Ilima stated, making Ash glare at him - it would have been nice to know he would be fighting more than one pokemon.

"Rattata!" The two dark furred pokemon hollered, the fur on their backs bristling as they bared their teeth at Pikachu and Ash, "Guess this wont be as easy as i thought..." Ash grumbled as he glanced around the field, "**Discharge**" Ash said after a second, watching as Pikachu jumped into the air, his cheeks crackling violently before he shot the wide ranged attack towards the pokemon, hitting them directly. Totem Raticate just growled, shaking the attack away, its fur slightly singed on the ends: the Rattata's let out loud cries of pain as they fell down with swirls in their eyes.

"Hm..." Ash mused as he watched Totem Raticate easily shake the attack away, "A tough one i see..." Ash mumbled under his breath, a smirk appearing on his face - he didn't show it, but he was actually happy to have somewhat of a challenge.

"RATICATE!" Totem Raticate cried as it swung its tail once more, making Pikachu jump to the side - its tail slamming down on the ground and making Pikachu topple over before it began running towards Pikachu, its teeth bared and glowing bright white, "Shit!" Ash cursed as he clenched his fists, "**Dig!**" He commanded, trying his best to keep his composure.

Pikachu began digging into the ground as fast as he could, but Totem Raticate was faster as it's large glowing teeth sunk into the electric mouse's tail, "PIKA!" Pikachu cried in pain, stopping his digging instantly as the teeth clamped down on his tail.

Ash growled as he fought for a way to defeat the large, clearly overpowered pokemon, "**Thunderbolt!" **He finally called out, watching as Pikachu managed to withstand the pain long enough to charge up his electricity, the electricity travelling through his tail and straight into Totem Raticate's teeth, "RATICATE!" It cried out in pain as the electricity surged through its teeth, making it release its grip on Pikachu, who quickly jumped up and back, flinching as pain shot through it's tail.

"Return Pikachu" Ash suddenly stated, watching as Pikachu turned and walked back to Ash's side as Ash knelt down, petting Pikachu's head before shrugging his bag of his shoulders and pulling out a bandage, "You did well. Take a rest" Ash stated as he wrapped the bandage around the large teeth marks on Pikachu's tail. Pikachu smiled thankfully at his trainer and nodded, moving to Ash's shoulder as the raven-haired boy stood up, pulling a poke'ball of his belt and throwing it into the air.

"Scraft!" Scrafty announced as he appeared form his poke'ball, pulling the skin that resembled pants up as they slouched down, "Be careful Scrafty - this opponent is no laughing matter" Scrafty nodded back at his trainer before facing the pokemon, a sweat drop and his eyes widening as he laid eyes on the large pokemon, who was holding it's teeth, still in pain form the previous electric attack.

"**Dragon Dance** into **Ice Punch**" Scrafty began running towards Raticate as a red and pink misty aura began surrounding him, his left arm raised and glowing ice blue, "RATICATE!" Totem Raticate cried out in surprise as the icy punch landed on its left side, the fur the attack hit freezing over. Swinging its tail once more, Raticate quickly flung Scrafty away as it bore its teeth once more.

Flying back, Scrafty flipped his body so he landed on his feet, skidding back across the ground with a grunt, "RATICATE!" Totem Raticate cried as it began running towards Scrafty, making Ash's eyes widen as an idea struck him, "WAIT!" He called out, wathcing as Scrafty blinked in confusion, stopping the jump he was about to do, "**LOW KICK!**" Scrafty suddenly grinned, sliding down and kicking at Raticate's feet, making the large pokemon topple and fall forward heavily - falling down on the icy patch, which shattered, piercing the totem pokemon's skin.

"RATICATE!" Totem Raticate cried as the ice pierced its skin, slowly pushing itself up and looking down at Ash and Scrafty. The three stared at each other for a few seconds before Totem Raticate let out a thunderous cry, as he swung his tail at the pedestal, shattering it with the normal Z-Crystal landign on its tail.

Turning back to Ash, Totem Raticate lowered its tail in front of the boy, staring him in the eyes and nodded. Ash let a rare smile cross his face as he nodded, reaching and taking the Z-Crystal.

"RATICATE!" The totem pokemon cried once more before turning and disappearing into the thick brush of the tree's that surrounded the area, leaving Scrafty panting and staring after it - and leaving Ash holding the diamond shaped crystal loosely in his hand.


	28. Z-Ring

"Whoa..." Ash's ears perked up at the collective gasp, making him turn to face the triplets and Captain Ilima, who were staring at Ash with wide eyes, "My goodness! That was one of the best challenges i have seen as a captain!" Ilima exclaimed, "Never before has Totem Raticate offered the Z-Crystal to a trainer!" He continued as he started clapping his hands slowly.

Ash nodded at Ilima's words as he held the Z-Crystal up, roaming his eyes over the white coloured diamond shaped object, "So...what do i do with thing?" Ash asked after a few minutes, his voice calm and as cold as ever. Ilima smiled, clearly not hearing the coldness in Ash's voice as he walked until he was toe-to-toe with Ash, "It's very simple actually!" He exclaimed, making Ash flinch and step away from the boy, only for Ilima to follow him, "Step back." Ash demanded coldly, making Ilima blink in confusion as Ash took a large step back from the pink haired boy.

"Uhh.." He said in confusion, making Ash roll his eyes - the young captain clearly didn't understand personal space, "What do I do with this thing?" Ash demanded once more, snapping Ilima out of his confused daze - a grin spreading across his face, "Why! That's really simple - but first, you do have a Z-Ring, correct?" Ash just stared at the pink haired boy silently, making Ilima sweat-drop as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, this is a problem - without a Z-Ring, you can't use the Z-Crystals..." Ash just shrugged - it didn't really matter to him if he could use them or not. He was slightly annoyed that he had fought so hard to get something he couldn't use, but Ash knew life didn't really like him, so he wasn't surprised.

"_I can help with that_" A voice suddenly spoke out, making the triplets and Ilima look around in confusion. Ash on the other hand froze, a frown appearing on his face, "Not it again" Ash said, the coldness in his voice deepening as the others looked at him confusion, "Not who?" Ilima asked in confusion, making Ash turn his cold frown towards the pink haired boy, "Tapu Koko" Ilima's eyes widened at the mention of the totem pokemon, going to say something but stopped when a surge of electricity struck the space between himself and Ash.

The triplets and Ilima shielded their eyes from the brightness of the light in front of them. Ash on the other hand just stared at the light, his frown deepening as the light faded to reveal the fabled Totem pokemon.

"I-Is that-?" Ilima stuttered out as he lowered his hand, his eyes wide, "Its Tapu Koko..." Nicole and her brothers said slowly as they looked at the almost bird-like pokemon, who had its back to them, facing towards Ash, "_Chosen One" _Tapu Koko spoke calmly as it looked at Ash, who bore the same frown, "What do you want now?" Ash said coldly, watching as Tapu Koko's eyes glowed pink and moved its arms, a white wristband shaped object seemingly appearing from nowhere and floating in front of Ash.

"_In order to save the Alola region - each of the chosen one's need to master Z-Crystals" _Tapu Koko spoke in the same calm voice, ignoring the coldness in Ash's voice, "_One cannot master the Z-Crystals without a Z-Ring. Take this Z-Ring." _Ash continued to frown as he looked at the pokemon, not moving to take the ring - it wasn't that he didn't want the Z-Ring, or that he wasn't interested in the Z-Crystals and the possible power that he could gather from them. Honestly, he just didn't like the Totem pokemon, its attitude or what it was expecting off Ash.

"_Take it. Now." _Tapu Koko stated once more, watching as Ash clenched his fist whilst glaring, "Why?" Ash said after a few seconds of glaring, watching as Tapu Koko raised a brow, waiting for Ash to elaborate, "Why are you giving me this?" _"As I stated before - each of the Chosen One's must master Z-Crystals in order to save the Alola region. Do not think this as a gift. It is merely a requirement for the region to be saved." _Ash growled, reaching out a snatching the Z-Ring violently. He was sick of the Totem' pokemon attitude - and if taking the Z-Ring meant he would leave, then he would swallow his pride and accept the offered item.

"_Good." _Tapu Koko stated as Ash took the Z-Ring, lowering its arms and its eyes going back to their normal black colouration, "_I do believe that this will be our last encounter until your all ready" _He continued, turning to look at the gawking triplets, who blinked and took steps back at the intimidation the electric pokemon exerted, "_Farewell" _Was the last thing Tapu Koko said before it closed its shell-like armour around its body and took to the air: disappearing in a flash.

* * *

"How do I use the Z-Crystal?" Ash was the first to speak after Tapu Koko left, having slipped the Z-Ring onto his left wrist before looking at Ilima exactingly - who snapped out of his bewildered stare at the spot Tapu Koko had been stood in.

Looking at Ash, Ilima stared silently at the boy before clasping his hands together loudly and shouting at the top of his voice, "THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!" Ash flinched at the sheer volume of the shout, "YOU JUST FACED DOWN THE MOST FINICKY OF THE TOTEM POKEMON SO CALMLY! AND NOT ONLY THAT, IT GAVE YOU A Z-RING! DO YOU KNOW HOW INCREDIBLE THIS IS?!" Ilima continued to shout excitedly, clenching his fists in excitement.

"I don't care." Ash stated, making Ilima snap his head up, shock etched across his face, "Just tell me how to use this stupid Z-Crystal so i can move on." Ilima stared at Ash in shock - did he not understand the sheer luck he had just gotten? Not only had he faced the Totem pokemon, but he was even blessed by the one of the great Totem pokemon with the gift of a Z-Ring!

Ilima went to say something, but stopped when he realised that Ash wasn't interested, "Fine" He said, placing a hand on his hip as he looked at Ash, who was watching him exactingly, "You place the Z-Crystal in the Z-Ring then you and your pokemon make this pose," He explained, moving so one arm was above his head and the other was by his chest, "That will activate the Z-Crystal and will lead to the move Breakneck Blitz"

Ash just nodded as he slipped the Z-Crystal into his pocket before walking past Ilima and back into the cavern, "Well...let's move on" Ash stated as he walked, not looking back as the other's quickly followed him, leaving Ilima shaking his head, a frown on his face.

"Whats his problem?" Ilima asked aloud as Ash and the triplets disappeared from sight.


	29. Following The Trial

"Where's the next trial?" Ash asked as the four trainers exited the cavern, finally stopping and looking back at the other's, who where a few steps behind him, "There are no more trials on this island" Zack answered, making Ash sigh as he looked at him coldly, "Then let's go to the next island" Ash said, turning away and going to walk, only to freeze when Darwin said, "We can't"

"Why the fuck not?!" Ash demanded, his patience growing thin. He already didn't like the triplets, and he hated that he had to save the world, AND he hated that the legendary's were treating him like an errand boy: now he was being told he couldn't move onto the next island?

"W-When you complete the island trials, you have to battle the islands kahuna" Darwin stuttered out quickly, making Ash's eye twitch in irritation - this whole journey was a colossal waist of time, and it was becoming more and more complicated by the minute, and it was really starting to piss him off.

"Great. Another pointless endeavor" Ash sighed as he looked at the trio with a blank look, "Take me to this "Kahuna"." Ash demanded, watching as the trio looked at each with quizzical looks before they looked back at Ash, "O-okay...H-he is in Ike town" Ash just nodded, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently as he awaited for one of the triplets to begin leading the way.

* * *

"How far is this town?" Ash asked after the group of four trainers walked up the dirt trail, "We have to go around this mountain and its right at the base" Nicole responded as the trio walked ahead of Ash - who as normal trailed behind them slightly.

Ash nodded to himself, irritation settling in his system - around the mountain? That would take at least 2-3 days. Again. This stupid journey was becoming more and more complicated the long Ash was in the Alola region, "**_At least when this is all over i will FINALLY be left alone by those dam legendaries" _**Ash thought, a rare smile crossing his face, "Well. Let's pick up are pace." Ash suddenly stated, increasing the speed of his walking so he was only a few steps behind the triplets, who looked confused but nodded, quickening their own walking.

\- _1 Hour Later -_

"It's starting to get dark, how about we call it a night?" Zack suddenly said, making Ash frown deeply as he looked to the sky, that was still fairly light with only the tiniest hint of darkness beginning to show, "Were not stopping - it's nowhere near night time, and i want to get this challenge over as fast as possible" Ash stated, stopping only when he heard a growl from behind him, "You know what Ash?" Zack spoke up loudly, making Ash look back at him with a bored look.

"What, Zack? You going to try and start an argument with me again? Try and hit me with that stupid hammer on your back again? Because i would advise againest it - i told you last time that i went easy on you, if you try anything with me again, i will cram that fucking hammer down your throat" Ash spoke calmly/threateningly, making Zack blink in shock at the threat.

"I-I..." Zack stuttered, making Ash smirk slightly, "Don't think i don't know what you were going to do. You and I both know i am not someone you want to fuck around with. Your already in my bad books for snooping in my past without my permission - arceus only knows what trouble you might bring to me thanks to what you did. Your lucky i haven't had Pikachu fry your ass yet. So don't push your luck" Zack went white as Ash brought up what he had done, making the Alolan native look away in guilt as he stayed quiet and continued to walk, making Ash nod whilst Nicole and Darwin watched in shock and slight horror at the threat Ash had made towards the oldest of the three.

_\- Several Hours Later -_

"Ash? Can we please stop and rest for the night?" Nicole finally spoke up tiredly, her eyes starting to feel heavy. Ash sighed, stopping his walking and looking to the rapidly darkening sky before nodding and looking back at the three trainers, all of who looked completely exhausted, "Fine. We may stop. But get to sleep quickly. We will be leaving as soon as the sun rises." The three trainers didn't say anything in protest, instead, they collapsed where they stood, almost immediately falling asleep were they fell.

Ash rolled his eyes as the trio collapsed and fell asleep, looking at Pikachu with a blank look. "A-Ash...?" A voice suddenly called out, throwing an alarmed look up on Ash's face as he turned towards the voice so fast, Pikachu almost fell of his shoulder, "Who's there?!" Ash demanded, watching as the bushes rustled before a familiar figure emerged from said bushes, making Ash and Pikachu freeze in shock.

"A-Ash? I-is that you?" The clearly female voice continued as she squinted her large ocean blue eyes towards Ash, who stayed silent, hoping the familiar girl would not see or him and would just leave, "A-Ash! I-it is you!" The girl exclaimed as her eyes landed on Ash and Pikachu.

Ash stayed silent as the girl slowly walked closer to them, a strange sensation filling his stomach as the girl stepped closer and closer to him.

"Dawn."


	30. Dawn Of A New Ash

"What do you want?" Ash spoke slowly as the dark-blue haired Sinnoh native stopped a few steps away from him, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at the raven-haired boy and his Pikachu, "I-i...I'm sorry!" Dawn suddenly exclaimed after a few minutes, throwing herself at Ash and wrapping her arms around his waist as she began to sob, "I'm so so so SO sorry!" The blue-haired girl sobbed as she gripped onto the weathered and beaten clothes of Ash, burying her face into the faded clothes, her sobs muffled by the clothes.

Ash blinked slowly as he looked down at the blue-eyed girl, who continued to sob into his clothes, making him shiver as her salty tears soaked through his shirt, "I shall repeat myself. What do you want?" Ash spoke coldly as he pried the girls arms from around his waist and pushed her off him, making her stumble back and look at Ash sadly.

"I need to find you" Dawn sobbed out, hiccuping softly as she raised her hand to wipe away her tears, "Why?" Dawn hiccuped again as the tears began to slow down, giving her a chance to look over the boy she hadn't seen in seven years.

"I needed to explain what happened, and why it happened" Dawn spoke slowly as her eyes roamed over the dark-haired boy in front of her. The seven years had not been kind to Ash. His Kalos outfit was falling apart at the seam, and his body, although muscular, was beaten and covered in battle scars.

"What is there to say? You all betrayed me. There is nothing more that i need to know." Ash stated coldly, turning away from the distressed girl, "If that is all you came to do - then i am not interested. Just leave and never look for me again" Dawn hiccuped one last time as she shook her head, "No, i'm not going" Ash flung around at lightning speed, this time making Pikachu actually fall of his shoulder as he glared down at Dawn, "Listen to me. And listen carefully"

"I don't care what you have to say. Any of you. Max already tried to apologize, and there is no amount of apologizing that any of you can do to regain my trust and respect. You don't understand what you did to me. You didn't just try to take my dream away, or just accuse me of cheating. You all SHATTERED my heart into a thousand pieces, which i was never able to fix" Ash ranted loudly, his eyes beginning to brim with his own tears of anger and sadness.

"Not only that, but you in particular shattered my heart in a way i can't explain" Dawn blinked in confusion, her eyes widening when she caught on to what Ash was saying, "I felt the same way Ash! I was just scared! The others...they threatened me and some of the others! They were going to hurt us, we didn't have a choice!"

"Of course you had a choice! You could have come to me! I would have protected you, as i always did with my friends!" Ash roared back angrily, the tears of anger and betrayal now streaming down his face, "My heart has down nothing but hurt the past seven years and its yours and their fault that i hurt so bad! Your the reason i can't trust anyone but my pokemon anymore! So i hope your fucking proud of yourselves! I may have never given up on training pokemon, but you all destroyed the innocence inside of me!" Shaking his head, his tears flying of his face, Ash turned and ran as fast as he could away from the blue-haired girl.

"Ash! Wait!" "Pikapii!" Both Dawn and Pikachu shouted, but their desperate cries fell on def ears as Ash kept running, never once looking back.

* * *

"Oomph!" Ash gasped as he suddenly tripped, falling heavily on the ground, "Why?! Why won't they just leave me alone?!" Ash gasped out between sobs, slowly getting to his feet and continuing to run, this time a little slower until he came to the edge of the island. Staring out into the vastness of the ocean, Ash sighed as he looked down at his reflection.

Ash scrunched his eyes up as his reflection once again began to shift, the reflection turning into his older, younger and more naive self once more, "I'm going crazy, its official" Ash grumbled as he stared down at the younger version of himself, who 's normal smile was set into a deep frown, "_You love Dawn" _Ash heard a voice in his head say to him as the lips of the reflection moved to match the words he heard.

"Did." Ash stated, shaking his head whilst looking at the reflection still, "_You still love her - it's not an easy thing to admit to yourself, but you do." _

"How do you know?" "_Because i'm your inner self. The innocent part of you that you claim you lost. But you haven't lost me. I'm still here, buried under all the paid and anguish, the denial and resentment you feel. But i am still here - and we both know you still love her" _Ash just shook his head and sighed - if he was going to go crazy, then he might as well be honest with himself.

"So what if i still do? I can't trust her or anyone anymore" The reflections frown slowly began to turn into a smile, "_Why not?" _"The fuck do you mean, "why not?"! You know why not, you know what they did. How can i trust anyone, let alone any of THEM after what they did to me?!" _"There are these things called second chances - Dawn and Max clearly didn't want to betray you, as they have explained - why can't you give them the benefit of the doubt? Is it so wrong to trust someone?" _

"How do i know there not lying? I fell for the act that they were my friends in the past, why should i risk doing it again?" "_Because deep down you still want friends. You want to be able to trust someone else once more. Why not start with the people who have apologized? You know what Dawn and Max are like. Both are bad liars. You would be able to sense if they were lying"_

_"_Urg..." Ash grunted at the logic in his reflections words, dropping to his knees with a vulnerable look on his face, "What if they betray me again? I couldn't take that again..."

"_They won't. And deep down you know they won't. Just take a leap of faith, whats the worst that can happen?" _The reflection said with a smile as it began to shift, turning back into Ash's normal face. Ash just stared at his now normal reflection silently, "_**Maybe...maybe they do mean it..."**_


	31. Unsure

"Pikapii!/Ash!" The sound of his name made Ash snap out of his daze as he looked up from his kneeling position, "Pi-Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed as he ran to Ash, tackling him into a hug before nuzzling the boys chest, "I keep running off...probably not the best way to deal with my problems..." Ash mumbled as he stroked Pikachu's head gently whilst standing up, moving his arm to hold Pikachu up as he stood.

"I-I'm sorry for following you..." Ash heard Dawn utter, making him look up from Pikachu and towards the blue haired girl, "I-I was worried. Y-You were all upset and i-i didn't know what might happen" Ash sighed as he allowed Pikachu to crawl out of his arms and onto his shoulder, closing his eyes and removing his hat so he could run a hand through his dirty-raven hair.

"Its fine.." Ash started, stopping his words to open his eyes and place his worn out hat back on his head, "Listen carefully to what i have to say - as it is very important." Dawn blinked but nodded slowly, tilting her head in confusion as she waited for Ash to continue, "It hurt me when you all betrayed me - especially when it came to you betraying me. It broke me, shattered my heart into pieces" Dawn blinked slowly and sadly, glancing away slightly in guilt, "But," Hearing those words made Dawn look back at Ash, her eyes brimming with hope.

"I don't know if i believe your and Max's claim that you were threatened into betraying me - at least not 100% believe it yet. But what you both said does make sense. I understand that you were scared - but you need to understand how much it hurt me. Touch my hand." Dawn blinked and slowly reached out, her fingers gently grazing Ash's hand.

Dawn let out a gasp, quickly snapping her hand back as an overwhelming sensation of hatred, anguish and hurt fell over her, "W-What-?!" "I'm using my aura to show you how much you all hurt me." Ash stated, reaching out and grabbing Dawn's hand, who flinched at the tight grip, but gasped once more as the sensation fell over her again.

* * *

Dawn gasped once more as the overwhelming feeling filled her senses, making her entire body begin to shake, "I-I-I..." She started until she finally fell to her knees, her hand still being grasped by Ash's.

"H-How do you deal this?" Dawn managed to gasp out as tears streamed down her face, her other hand gripping her rapidly thumping heart, "I-It hurts so much.." She whispered, her heart beat speeding up as the tears fell faster down her face, her eyes squeezed shut, "Hm.." Ash looked at Dawn, not noticing the blue/red mist surrounding them.

A few minutes past until Ash finally let go of Dawn's hand, who withdrew her hand, grasping her chest as her heartbeat began to slow down and the overwhelming emotions began to leave her, "Do you understand how i feel now? How much it hurt?" Dawn just nodded slowly as her breathing slowed down and she slowly stood up, "I'm so sorry Ash...so, so sorry" She whispered, going to hug Ash, but hesitating until Ash sighed and nodded, allowing the blue haired girl to wrap her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck.

Slowly and hesitatingly, Ash moved his arms around Dawn's waist, swallowing his hurt and pain at having the one girl he had loved so close to him again.

A few minutes went past until Ash and Dawn both let each other go. Slowly moving her head from out of Ash's neck and looking up at his face, Dawn let her eyes roam over the boys face, whilst Ash did the same, searching Dawn's eyes for any sign of malice or manipulation. But he couldn't find any.

Slowly moving her head up, Dawn took a shaky breath, making Ash freeze as he realised what she was going to do, making him quickly withdraw his arms and step away as her lips drew closer to his.

"Don't" Ash stated, making Dawn blink in confusion and slight hurt, "Don't push the boundaries yet, Dawn" Ash continued as he looked away from her and out across the ocean, "I don't know if a trust you yet - and i dont want to take that kind of step until i trust you"


	32. Dawn Of A New Day

Looking away from the ocean and back towards Dawn, Ash nodded to himself as he made a decision, "I should head back - do you want to come with me?" Dawn smiled and nodded gently as she began following the raven-haired boy back towards the camp site where the triplets laid sleeping. A few seconds of comfortable seconds past until Ash felt a pair of arms circle his waist and he felt Dawn press her body up against his back as she whispered, "I will earn your trust and love back one day Ash Ketchum..." Ash let a small smile ghost over his lips - he did still love Dawn, that he knew. But he needed to be careful. His heart was so fragile and he couldn't take rejection of betrayal again.

"Let's get back.." Ash spoke in a somewhat softer tone, stepping away from Dawn once more as he continued walking - leaving Dawn to stand for a seocnd as she smiled before following him once more, "_**I love you, and i will earn your love back...**_"

* * *

Getting back to the camp site, Ash took a second to look at the pitch black sky, "It will be dawn in a few hours - we might as well get some sleep whilst we can" He stated, turning to look at Dawn, who nodded in agreement as she watched Ash walk over to a large rock - where he sat down and leaned back against it, "Well?" Ash said as he looked at Dawn with a raised brow, making the blue haired girl blush as she slipped her bag of her back, reaching inside and pulling out her sleeping bag before rolling it out near a tree.

Ash took this chance to look over the young woman, noting how different she looked. The seven years apart had been good to Dawn - she was much taller than she was, only a few inches shorter than Ash, and whilst Dawn had always had a slim figure, her body had filled out slightly - her hips were wider and her stomach arched in, giving her an hourglass figure. Another thing different was her chest. At 10 years old, Dawn had naturally been flat chested, but now she sported quiet a large chest, which made Ash blush as he quickly looked away, choosing to look at the girls outfit.

Her clothes bore a striking contrast to her old outfit of black and pink. Instead of pink boots, pink skirt, black shirt and a pink scarf - Dawn wore a white, short-sleeved shirt with black markings around the waist with a crop-top like red jacket with yellow sleeves and white buttons. Black short with yellow edges covered her neither regions, long thick black socks, red and white high tops with black laces and a red bandanna across her forehead.

Shaking his head as he looked up to the sky, Ash glanced down at his own ripped outfit with a small frown, "Hey, Dawn?" Dawn blinked and looked up at Ash as she removed her headband and jacket, "I think i need to get a new outfit...no anywhere i could find something new?" Dawn suddenly grinned and nodded, "I know the perfect place in Iki town!" She exclaimed excitedly, making Ash smile, "_**So, she still loves clothe shopping..."**_ He though as he nodded, letting a small yawn out as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, "Cool" Was the last thing he said as he allowed sleep to overtake him.

Dawn smiled as Ash quickly fell asleep, slipping into her sleeping bag and resting her head on the pillow she had with her, "_**I know the perfect outfit for you Ash...**_" She thought as she yawned herself, closing her eyes and nuzzling down into her sleeping bag, allowing sleep to over take her.

\- _The Next Dawn -_

Ash slowly blinked his eyes open, letting a long yawn as he sat up, his hair falling in his face, making him look around, his eyes landing a couple inches away onto his hat, which had come off during the night, "There's my hat..." He mumbled as he grabbed the hat, placing the worn out item back onto his messy black hair before he stood up, stretching his arms above his head as he looked around the clearing.

The triplets still laid sprawled out on the floor, each of them lost in a sea of dreams. This made Ash roll his eyes as he walked over to them, nudging the first one, Darwin, with his foot rather roughly, "Wake up - its time to get moving" Darwin groaned in his sleep, rolling away from Ash and staying asleep, making Ash's eye twitch in irritation. He HAD told them that they would be leaving early, so this was just irritating.

Calling out his Floatzel, Ash nodded at the sea-weasel pokemon, "**Water gun**" Floatzel grinned and shot the water attack across the three trainers, who each gasped loudly as the cold water hit them, making them jump up in shock, now completely soaked, "What the hell?!" Darwin demanded as he looked down at his soaked body, looking towards a somewhat smirking Ash and Floatzel, "Whats wrong with just waking us up normally?!"

"Tried it. Plus this is faster." Darwin and his siblings glared at Ash as he recalled Floatzel before he walked away from them and towards Dawn, kneeling down beside her and shaking her shoulders gently, "Dawn. It's time to wake up" Zack and the others watched in shock and anger as Ash gently woke the unknown girl awake, angry that he had woken them up with water and shocked that he was being so gentle and soft with someone.

Letting out a yawn, Dawn blinked her ocean blue eyes open, smiling when she woke up to Ash, "Morning already? Alright, i'm getting up..." Dawn mumbled as she sat up and stretched her arms above her head as Ash stepped back, turning to face the triplets, who still bore shocked and angry faces, "What are you staring at? Get your stuff and let's get going." The triplets just frowned as they each picked up there discarded bags, waiting for Ash to explain to them who the girl was.

"For those who are wondering. This is Dawn." Ash finally stated as Dawn slipped her sleeping bag back into her bag and put her jacket and headband back on before moving to stand besides Ash, "She is...an old friend..." Ash spoke slowly, his voice a touch unsure as he said friend before his face went back to it's usual cold and calm look, "She will be travelling with us. any complaints? No? Good." Ash stated quickly, not giving the others a chance to complain.

"Let's go." Ash stated once more, snapping his fingers quickly to indicate for them to move, "Lets get it Iki town" Zack and his siblings looked at each other before walking on ahead, making notes to talk to Dawn later as they began leading the way towards Iki town.


	33. A Little Catch Up

Trailing behind the triplets, Ash looked ahead as he walked, whilst Dawn kept glancing at Ash from her walking place beside him, "So..." Dawn said slowly, moving her arms behind her back as she looked at Ash, "Where have you been hiding the past seven years?" Ash glanced at Dawn briefly before looking back ahead, "Around." He stated, a clear indication he wasn't ready to tell the blue-haired girl where his home for the past seven years was.

"That's cool..." Dawn said awkwardly, rubbing her arm as she racked her brain for a way to get Ash to open up to her, "You caught any new pokemon?" She finally landed on, watching as Ash's eyes seemed to light up a little, "Not many to be honest...i have caught two new pokemon since coming to this region.." Dawn smiled as the raven haired boys light up - the old Ash was still in there, she just knew it. She just needed to work on bringing him back.

"What pokemon?" "A Growlithe and a Litten" Dawn's eyes lit up at the mention of the two pokemon, "Thats pretty cool - I've actually caught some more pokemon since we last sore each other"

Ash's eyebrow quirked up as he glanced at Dawn, "That's cool." Ash stated as he walked, deciding to give Dawn a small chance - he knew if he was going to trust her, he needed to know more about her, seeing as they hadn't seen anything of each other in seven years, Ash didn't know how much Dawn had changed.

"What pokemon have you caught?"

Dawn smiled at Ash's question, proudly listing of her new pokemon, "I caught a Bulbasaur, Pidgey, Vulpix, Eevee and a Seadra whilst i was in Kanto" Dawn started, making Ash nod as he waited for her to continue, "Whilst i was in Johto and Hoenn, i caught a Wooper, Houndour, Gorabyss and a Roselia."

"What made you go to all those regions?" Ash asked as Dawn's listing came to an end. The question made Dawn blush as she shyly looked away, "Honestly? I was looking for you..." Ash blinked at first, but let a small smile grace his lips, "I'm guessing you heard rumours that i was in Alola, and that's what brought you here?" Dawn nodded shyly, making Ash half smile, which quickly dropped as he looked ahead, "Do you keep all your pokemon on you?"

Dawn smiled in relief at the change in subject and nodded, "I spoke to the professor after i caught more than six pokemon - he said i could carry up to 15 pokemon with me, but if he thought i was struggling he would lower it back to 6" Ash nodded slowly in understanding. It did make sense to the black-haired boy. After all, Dawn would be considered a veteran trainer now, so it was only natural that the professor would allow her to carry more pokemon with her.

"Did any of your old pokemon evolve?" Ash asked after a few seconds, to which Dawn nodded proudly, "Yup! Quilava evolved into a Typhlosion whilst i was travelling through Hoenn" "Thats cool...Some of my pokemon have evolved as well..." Ash spoke softly, but proudly, making Dawn tilt her head in curiosity, "Thats awesome! Which one's evolved?"

"Totodile, Oshawott, Scraggy and Buizel all evolved"

"Buizel evolved? Wow...i thought he didn't want to evolve..." "He didn't, he was forced to" Dawn blinked in surprise, looking at Ash in confusion, "Forced to? what do you mean?" "It doesn't matter" Ash's voice suddenly turned cold, hinting that Dawn had touched on a sensitive subject, making her shut her mouth as she thought of a way to change the subject.

"At least were nearly at Iki town" Ash nodded slowly in confirmation that he had heard her, choosing to remain silent. Dawn frown, sad that Ash had shutdown once more - but she knew things wouldn't and couldn't be perfect right of the back, so she had a expected Ash to be a little quieter with her.

* * *

Ash remained silent the rest of the walk, whilst Dawn spent the time thinking of different ways to get Ash to talk, "Were nearly half way there" Ash and Dawn heard Zack say, making them look at the black-haired boy, who had stopped walking to look back at the two quiet trainers, "But if we keep going, we won't get there until its dark, so i think we should stop for the night" Ash's eye twitched in irritation - he really didn't like Zack. And he hated the idea of spending more time with him, but it was starting to get dark, and he knew he wouldn't be able to battle the Kahuna until the morning.

"Fine - again, were leaving early. So wake up before i do, or you will get a water gun to the face again" Ash warned the triplets, who all gulped as they nodded and began setting up camp.

Turning to face Dawn, Ash repressed a smile as he looked at her, "Wanna go for a walk?" Dawn blinked and smiled, nodding and following Ash as he walked away from the triplets, who looked up from their setting up to watch the duo leave.

"Why is he so nice to her, but so cold with us?"


	34. Introduction 1

"So, what have you been doing the past seven years?" Dawn said as she and Ash came to a halt once they reached the ocean once more, looking at Ash with her head tilted in curiosity, "Training" Ash simply stated as he looked away from Dawn and out over the ocean, making Dawn frown softly at his cut-throat answer, "All seven years? You've been training none-stop the whole time?" Ash nodded sharply in confirmation, making Dawn suddenly smile.

"Could i see your pokemon? I imagine there a lot tougher since you've been training none-stop..." Ash nodded slightly as he looked down at his belt fondly, "They are a lot stronger - so am i" He stated, reaching for his first poke'ball, "I'll show you them one at a time - i haven't took them out in over a day so they will need to stretch anyway." Dawn nodded as she watched Ash release his first pokemon, her eyes turning to hearts as she laid her eyes on his Litten.

"Oh my...He's so cute!" Dawn exclaimed as she knelt down in front of the cat-like pokemon, pulling out her pokedex to scan the pokemon, "Hey there little guy...My name is Dawn" Dawn introduced herself to Litten as she pocketed her pokedex and looked at the black/red pokemon. Litten flicked his tail as he looked at Dawn, looking up at Ash questionably, who nodded softly, "It's okay Litten, she's...an old friend" Ash spoke slowly and unsure, watching as Litten nodded, taking a step closer to Dawn and sniffing her outstretched hand before smiling and nuzzling against her hand.

Dawn cooed softly as she stroked the cat pokemon gently, "I'm guessing this little guy is one of your newer pokemon?" Ash nodded silently as he watched the two interact with an impressed look on his face - Although he hadn't had much time with Litten, he knew the fire type pokemon was very wary of other people besides himself. So he was impressed that he and Dawn were getting along so well.

Once Dawn had finished fussing Litten, she stood back up, waiting for Ash to release his next pokemon, "I've shown you one of my pokemon - show me one of yours" Ash suddenly stated, making Dawn blink and shrug softly, "Okay...?" She spoke slowly as she reached for her belt and released her first pokemon. Her ever so trusty Piplup.

"Piplup!" The small penguin pokemon announced as he appeared from his poke'ball, shaking his head after being inside the ball for so long. Looking down at the penguin pokemon, Ash gave a small smile as he looked at the familiar pokemon, "So...you still won't evolve huh?" Piplup blinked and looked at Ash in confusion whilst shaking his head. Suddenly, Piplup's eyes went wide as he laid eyes on Pikachu, "Piplup? Pip-Piplup!" He exclaimed as he ran over to Ash and hugged his leg.

Ash let a small chuckle out as he knelt down and petted the water pokemon's head gently, "It has been a long time Piplup...your looking well" Hearing Ash's praise made the small pokemon stop his hug and puff his chest up proudly, "Still as cocky as ever i see. Not a bad thing thought - it looks like Dawn has trained you well."

"I have...How can you tell?" Dawn spoke up as she watched with a smile as her starter pokemon and her true-love interacted, "There are many ways to tell if a pokemon is well trained" Ash started as he stood up, watching as Piplup fell in line with Dawn, "Like what?" Dawn asked inquisitively, watching as Ash let a small smile ghost over his lips as he delved into the knowledge he had acquired over the seven years of training.

"Things like your pokemon see-able muscle and the condition of their coats are an indication of their strength" Ash started to explain as he continued to look at Piplup, "Your Piplup has fairly large muscles considering he is still a un-evolved pokemon, plus his coat is extremely shiny, indicating he has been pampered or trained to a high degree"

Dawn looked at Piplup, actually noticing the things that Ash was pointing out - it was true! Piplup's small arms were more muscular than she remembered, and his coat WAS considerably shiny, "That's amazing! Where did you learn all that stuff?" Dawn said as she looked back at Ash, who's smile faded, turning into a small frown, "Seven years alone with your pokemon allowed me to gain knowledge" Dawn blinked but nodded.

Ash looked away from Dawn and towards the sky, which was beginning to fill with grey clouds, "We will have to head back - it's going to rain soon" Ash stated, making Dawn look at the sky, nodding in agreement when she noticed the dark clouds, "Probably a good idea.." She agreed as Ash began walking back towards the camp site, Dawn following closely behind him, stopping for a second when she swore she heard rustling, "_**I must be imagining things...**_" She thought as she shook her head, quickly running to catch up to Ash, who didn't hear anything.

* * *

"Hmm.." Max mumbled from his place in the bush as he watched Dawn and Ash interact, "How much longer do i need to hide before he will forgive me?" He continued to mumble, watching as Ash and Dawn began walking away, shifting and accidentally standing on a twig, making him hold his breath as Dawn turned towards his hiding spot.

Luckily for him, Dawn didn't investigate and continued on with Ash. Letting out his held breath, Max slowly and quietly began to follow the duo back towards the camp, being careful not to gain any attention.


	35. History Lesson

It didn't take long to get back to the camp site - it also didn't take long for Ash's prediction to come true. Small drops of rain began to fall from the dark clouded sky, steadily increasing until it was lightly drizzling. The rain didn't bother Ash in the slightest, especially since it was only a light drizzle, but Dawn had took her bag of her back and was holding it above her head, trying her best to protect her hair.

"Why are you doing that?" Ash asked after glancing at Dawn a few times, a look of slight confusion, but somewhat knowing look on his face, "I hate the rain. Besides, if my hair gets wet, its a pain to sort out in the morning!" Dawn replied as hse shifted the bag to cover more of her hair, making Ash chuckle as the two entered the camp site, where two tents were set up.

"Hm, didn't know they packed tents..." Ash mused softly as he walked over to a tree and leaned againest it as he watched Dawn quickly set up her own red tent, "Aren't you going to set up your tent?" Dawn asked once her own medium sized tent was up, turning to look at Ash and lowering her bag once she was stood under the canape of the tent, the rain drops making a soft patter sound as they hit the tent's fabric.

Ash just shrugged as he looked at her with a neutral look, "I don't have one" Dawn blinked and frowned, thinking before beckoning the boy forward, "Well, you can't stay out in the rain. Come on, there is enough space inside for us both" Ash looked hesitant at the girls words, making Dawn smile gently, "Don't worry - there is a zip up wall that keeps both sides separate." Ash raised a brow and nodded, slowly walking inside of the tent, where Dawn followed inside, zipping the front of to stop the rain from entering.

* * *

A few minutes of silence past as the two trainers laid on their respective sides of the tent, the wall zipped closed, but thin enough so one could see the outline and hear the other person, "Ash?" Dawn's voice snapped Ash out of the gaze he had directed at the tent above him, making him glance to the outline of the blue-haired girl, "Hm...?" Ash responded, watching as Dawn's figure shifted, indicating she had rolled over to face his direction.

"I've been thinking about it...do you want to know what happened all those years ago?" Ash seemed to freeze up at those words, battling inside his head for a response. Not receiving a reply made Dawn frown as she glanced over at Ash's figure, "Ash...?" Ash snapped out of his inner battle and coughed slightly, laying a hand on his sleeping Pikachu's back, stroking it as he nodded to himself, "Tell me." Ash stated, listening as Dawn took a deep, shaky breath before talking.

"Where do i start?" Dawn mused aloud at first, making Ash frown, "Why did they betray me - start by explaining that." Ash instructed, rolling over so he and Dawn were facing each other.

"When we all at your house waiting for you to come home, everyone was discussing the battle between you and Alain" Ash hummed lightly in return - he remembered the battle vividly. He may have lost that battle, but it was one of, if not the best battle he had had in a very long time. Certainly the best battle he had during his Kalos journey, "Paul was the first one to talk - he claimed that although mega-evolution was a thing, there was no way you could have pulled of that "stunt" as he called it, without a mega ring or a key stone"

"Paul continued, saying that he had seen similar things happen when cheating trainers drugged their pokemon up with Protein or Calcium" The idea of people drugging their pokemon made Ash and Dawns blood boil - it was common knowledge that drugging ones pokemon was not only illegal, but highly dangerous, often resulting in death of said pokemon being drugged.

"Me and a few others thought for sure that Paul was talking out of ass - honestly i didn't even know why he was there. As far as i know, you two never came to terms" Ash raised a brow - he knew that Paul had shown him some respect at the end of their battle, or so he thought. The wave of his hand had been a signal to Ash that he at least respected him as a trainer - clearly he was wrong.

"Anyway - Iris was the first to back up Paul's, i guess accusation or assumption" Ash rolled his eyes at the mention of the dark skinned girl. He had never really liked her before the betrayal. Always calling him a kid - it was irritating.

"She claimed that she had heard rumors that Kalos trainers were notorious for drugging their pokemon, and that she wouldn't be surprised if you did the same, saying you seemed like someone who would do anything to win." Dawn stopped, waiting for Ash's figure to nod before continuing.

"Thats when Misty and Brock joined in - they said that you weren't a skilled trainer, that most of you badges were given to you and not earned, so they though the same had happened in Kalos, and that your lack of skill had driven you to dramatic and illegal measures" The hairs on the back of Ash's neck began to stand, the sound of the rain outside falling of def ears as the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears blocked it out, anger welling up inside of him as Dawn continued to talk.

"Hearing so many people taking Paul's side must of triggered something inside of the others - Richie and AJ began to doubt you, thinking back on there own battles with you. AJ claimed that you had tried to demand a rematch after trying to force Pikachu to battle, and Richie claimed that during yours and his battle, your pokemon showed you no respect, so the two were convinced that you desperation back then had manifested into dramatic measures to win"

"From the way he was talking, i gathered that Trip didn't leave on good terms with you either. He almost instantly agreed with Paul, claiming that you were a weakling who would do anything to win a battle, even cheat, like you had back when you battled him in Unova"

Dawn stopped, hearing Ash's breathing becoming heavier with each word she spoke, "Barry and Cilian are the only two whos reasons i dont know. They didn't chip in with any opinion, but they also didn't protest"

"What about Zoey, Max and May?"

"Zoey stood up for you, saying she didn't think you would go to such measures - she stated if you would do that, you would have done it earlier in your adventure. She especially pointed out that during your Sinnoh journey, that you actually lost some contests, showing you weren't all about winning, instead just enjoying the competition"

"Max backed her up, saying that although you liked to win, you understood that losing was part and parcel in pokemon battles. He said that if you would go to such measures in the Kalos league, why wouldn't you have done it before in the other leagues you had competed in: May on the other hand was torn as she later told me. She remembered how much you loved to win, and what extremes you would go to, but she didn't know if you would be willing to drug your pokemon just to win a league championship"

"In the end, May ended up siding with the others. She never really explained why, but she did" Ash stiffened more and more, his anger beginning to simmer in his stomach, "Why didn't you, Max and Zoey stand up for me when they turned on me?" Ash cut Dawn off sharply - it was the main thing he wanted to know.

Dawns eyes darkened in sadness as she began to speak once more, "We wanted to." She started, her voice beginning to shake as tears filled her eyes, "Professor Oak threatened us, saying if we were to stand up for you, he would contact the other professors and tell them we were abusing are pokemon"

"We knew that an accusation like that, from someone as prestige as Professor Oak would be hard to argue with - we were convinced that are pokemon licences would be revoked and pokemon taken away from us" Dawn began to choke whilst Ash began to bubble more with anger.

"Why did Oak do that? What did he have againest me?" Ash demanded, his eyes hardening and his hand gripping onto Pikachu's fur, "He explained that although you had shown potential as a trainer ever since beating Gary in a battle, ever since your skill had began to deteriorate, becoming worse and worse with each journey you went on. He claimed that your were becoming an embarrassment, and giving Kanto and Pallet town a bad name"

"That motherfucker..." Ash growled, which Dawn seemed to not here as she began to bring her story to an end.

"The only one i kind of get is your mother - she said after seeing you jump of Lumious Cities tallest building, she was convinved that you were to reckless to be a trainer. I get that she was worried is what i mean, but she should have had more faith in you."

Ash suddenly sat up, his eyes brimming with anger filled tears, "I need to go." He stated, unzipping the door of the tent and stepping out, "Wh-? Where are you going?" I need some time to myself." Ash growled out as he began walking away. Dawn was tempted to follow, but she could see Ash was beyond words angry.


	36. An Unexpected Turn Of Events

Still seething, Ash trudged through the rain loudly, the squelching of his run-down shoes the only sound, besides the overwhelming sound of his blood pumping through his ears, "**_How could they do that? Say that?!"_** He thought as he continued through the mud, not caring that his already worn-out red sneakers were getting even more rundown thanks to the rain and mud.

All in all, Ash could deal with what the others had said about him - that he lacked skill and that their was a possibility that he would cheat. That wasn't what bothered him to be honest. It was the fact that Professor Oak - a man he had revered for his whole childhood, hated him and though he was so embarrassing that he would threaten to end the careers of other trainers. Thats what Ash found unforgivable.

A dark cloud of anger was clouding Ash's mind as he came to a stop, his eyes glazed over with hatred and anger as he clenched his fists, twisting around and punching a tree with all; his strength. The punch did nothing to the tree, except making a few leaves shift slightly, floating down and landing softly on the ground surrounding the angry 17-year-old.

"Embarrassing..." Ash whispered to himself, his eyes clouding with angry and misunderstood tears, which slowly began to trickle down his cheeks, the tears mixing with the rain and dripping onto the floor as he turned to look towards the open ocean - by mistake, the boy had found himself in the same area he and Dawn had ventured to before, only this time he was beyond angry.

"Ash...?" A voice suddenly caught Ash's attention, but not enough to make the boy look away from the outstretched ocean in front of him, "What do you want Max?" Ash voiced his thoughts towards the boy, having recognised the voice belonging to the 15-year-old Hoenn native.

"What's wrong?" Max continued as he emerged from the bushes, his outfit slightly damp from the rain, but drying than Ash's. Ash just gave a small chuckle, glancing at the dark-blue haired boy slightly before looking back over the ocean, "Whats right should be the question your asking." Max raised a brow slowly at the response, slowly walking closer to the distressed boy, stopping a few feet away from the boy - as much as he wanted to step closer, he was unsure where he stood with the raven-haired boy.

"Why didn't YOU tell me what they said?" Ash suddenly bite out towards the blue-haired boy, turning to face the boy, who looked confused at the question, "You were there when they were all bad mouthing me, why didn't you tell me what they said? Why leave it to Dawn?" Ash elaborated, his face still twisted in anger, yet, he was still exerting an almost creepy, calm vibe.

"What opportunity did i have to tell you?" Max answered after quietening down for a few minutes, making Ash raise his brow, "Back when i was explaining to Zack and the others what had happened in the past, you came out and told me there was no way you would forgive me." Max started, looking down slightly before looking back at the calm but angry Ash, "But i had a feeling you might forgive Dawn"

"What made you say that?"

"Even back when i was 8, i knew you liked Dawn - i thought out of anyone, she would be the most likely to be forgiven, so i thought it best she be the one to tell you, as she would be the only one you would listen to" Ash took a shaky breath as he listened to Max - his reasoning did make sense, as at 10 Ash did love Dawn, even before he knew it. And out of everyone, Dawn was the most likely to be forgiven.

"You have a chance." Ash suddenly changed the subject, looking away from Max and back out over the ocean. Max blinked, his eyes brimming with hope at Ash's words, "You and the others who didn't want to betray me still have a shot at earning my forgiveness, but i will take some time before i ever trust you guys again - be aware of that" Ash finished, turning and walking away from Max, stopping to glance back at the boy for a split second.

"You coming? If you want to earn my trust back, you will have to travel and prove to me that you deserve my trust" Max blinked, stumbling forward slightly as he quickly caught up to Ash, walking a few steps behind his long time idle.


	37. Ike Town

Ash stared blankly at the roof of the tent as he laid on his back, his hands folded over his stomach as he thought about everything that had happened over the past week. Not only had he been ripped away from his home to save the whole dam world once more - he was being forced to travel with three other "Chosen Ones", one of who took it upon himself to dig into the raven-haired boys past, unearthing problems Ash had long since thought he had burred deep enough to never have to deal with them ever again.

It was strange to Ash - in one way, he was extremely angry at the triplets, more specifically Zack: Who did he think he was? And what gave him the right to go digging into his past? A place in his life he found a lot of heartache and pain. In another way, Ash felt like he should be grateful for Zack's snooping: if he hadn't been so noisy when it came to the chocolate eyed boy, he wouldn't have reconnected with his lost love Dawn, or his at one time good friend Max.

Ash was torn with his emotions: not only was he unsure about his feelings towards the triplets - although he still didn't like them, he wanted to scream at them and curse them for bringing up his past, but at the same time he wanted to thank them for potentially bringing love, friendship and trust back into his heart and life.

Blinking his eyes slowly, Ash noticed that the area around him was beginning to brighten, indicating morning was approaching on him, "**_Dwelling on these thoughts won't bring this adventure to a stop...might as well continue on..._**" Ash thought - though he was torn over whether he wanted to return to solitude once the journey was over.

Sitting up slowly, Ash looked over at Dawn, raising a brow when he noticed her eyes were already open and she was staring at him, "Your awake already?" Dawn blinked and slowly sat up with a nod, running a hand through her hair, "Did you even go to sleep?" "No" Dawn replied softly as she threw back the cover of her sleeping bag and stood up in the large tent, stretching her arms slightly before looking at Ash, "You didn't either" Dawn stated matter-of-factual, making Ash shrug softly.

"I rarely sleep" Was all Ash said as he grabbed his hat and placed it on his head before exiting the tent, leaving Dawn to change in peace.

* * *

"Your awake. Good." Ash said as soon as he exited the tent and sore the triplets emerging from their tents, tired looks on their faces, "Just to bring you up to speed - You remember Max? He will be traveling with us from here on out" Whatever..." The triplets grumbled back as they began to pack their tents up. Ash just shrugged, glad their was no protest as he looked over to Max, who had chosen to camp a few feet away from where everyone else was.

"He better be awake." Ash stated as he walked over to the tent: As he reached for the zipper, it began to undo itself, revealing an awake and ready looking Max, "Ash? What are you doing?" "Making sure your awake - i don't like dawdle. Once Dawn's ready we will be leaving" Max just nodded as he quickly packed his tent up as Ash walked back over to the tent he had shared with Dawn.

* * *

Dawn emerged from the tent to see Ash standing with his back to her, the triplets just finishing the packing of their belongings and Max was stood a few feat in front of Ash, "Max? What are you doing here?" Dawn voiced her confusion as she quickly packed her tent, her eyes not leaving the boy, "He will be traveling with us." Ash answered for the blue-haired boy, who just nodded in confirmation, making Dawn blink in confusion, but shrug as a glimmer of hope entered her mind. This could be a sign that Ash is willing to give not only her, but the others who didn't want to betray him a chance.

Once everyone was packed up, they looked at Ash, "Let's go." He stated, watching as the triplets, once again, took the lead. Ash and Dawn walked side-by-side, whilst Max trailed behind them slightly - he not only didn't want to push his luck with Ash, but he didn't want to intrude on the two future lovers.

\- _Some Time Later -_

"I can see Ike Town!" Nicole suddenly said, making Ash look ahead, where he could see a small, village like area sitting just at the base of the hill the five trainers were stood on, "Let's pick up the pace. I want to battle the Kahuna and move on as quickly as possible" Ash stated, walking ahead of the others, who looked at each other before following Ash down the hill.

Reaching the small town, Ash took a second to take in his surroundings. Ike Town seemed to be a place of tradition - what kind of tradition was unknown to Ash, but based on the large wooden battlefield, the statues surrounding the wooden houses and the flaming pillars, Ash could tell some kind of ceremony was taken place in the town.

"Hey!" A voice ahead of them shouted, making the group of trainers blink as they looked towards the source of the voice, "Nicole! Zack! Darwin! It's been a long time!" The owner of the voice - a roughly 16 year old boy with tanned skin and deep green hair.

"Hau!" The triplets said back as they brushed past Ash and ran up to the teenage boy, who bore an ear-splitting grin as he looked at the triplets, "Back for another battle with my pops? Or did you come to battle me?" The boy - Hau - asked with a cheeky grin, hands behind his head as he spoke, "Sorry Hau - were actually here to see Hala" Nicole said with a sheepish grin, which quickly turned into a flirty one, "But...we can catch up later, say over dinner?" Hau let out a loud laugh as he shook his head, "Still quiet the flirt i see" He said, making Nicole grin, "So is that a yes?"

Ash, having heard enough, walked over to them with a neutral look on his face, "Do you know the Kahuna?" Hau blinked and looked away from Nicole and towards Ash, "Yeah, i'm his grandson - are you here to challenge him?" Ash nodded, earning another ear-splitting grin from the green haired boy, "Awesome! But first you have to battle me!"

"Why?" Ash spoke monotone, an annoyed look on his face at the prospect of fighting another meaningless battle, "To see if your worthy of fighting my gramps of course! Come on, the battle field is this way!" Hau shouted excitedly, making Ash's eye twitch as he glared after the boy, "Don't mind Hau - he is an excitable guy who loves to battle" Darwin piped up, but Ash continued to glare after the boy. He had completed the first trial already, why did he njeed to prove himself anymore? But whatever, if it meant he would face the kahuna he was willing to do it.


	38. Ash VS Hau

"How many pokemon are we permitted to use?" Ash asked as he reached the wooden platform, walking up the steps as Hau ran up the steps on the other side, "Three" Hau said as he grabbed his first poke'ball of his waist and threw it into the air, revealing another pokemon Ash had never seen, making him look to the others with a knowing look.

Dawn took the liberty of scanning the new pokemon with her pokedex, as she was unfamiliar with Alolan pokemon like Ash.

_Dartrix. The Blade Quill Pokémon_

_ Supremely sensitive to the presence of others, it can detect opponents standing behind it, flinging its sharp feathers to take them out._

"Hm, a grass type that can detect movement..." Ash mused slightly as he looked over the grass/flying pokemon, reaching to his belt and selecting a poke'ball, "Lucha!" Hawlucha cried as he was released from his poke'ball, quickly getting into a battle position as soon as he sore Hau and his pokemon, "What a cool pokemon! What is it?" Hau gasped out as he produced his own, surprisingly large pokedex and tapping the front of it whilst pointing it at Ash's Hawlucha.

_Hawlucha, the Wrestling Pokémon. _

_Possessing an artistic way of executing its moves, Hawlucha takes great pride in their elegance. In combat, Hawlucha leaps nimbly about, taking advantage of its opponents' blind spots. It's also skilled at using superb submission holds._

"So its a fighting AND flying type? That's awesome!" Hawlucha puffed his chest up proudly at Hau's complements, making Ash roll his eyes, "Can we just get this battle over with? Or do you want to spend the whole time ogling my pokemon?" Hau blinked at Ash's words, frowning slightly but shrugging, his frown quickly turning into a large grin, "Let's win this Dartrix! Let's start with **Tackle**!" Dartrix flipped its long, fringe like feather out of its face before it flew up and sped towards Hawlucha.

"Jump and use **X-Scissor**" Hawlucha easily jumped over the incoming Grass/Flying pokemon. Quickly twisting his body around, Hawlucha fell towards Dartrix, his arms crossed and glowing white. Slamming into the confused Dartix's back, Hawlucha pushed his hind legs against Dartrix's back, propelling him off as he spun through the air, landing on the field and standing up confidently whilst Dartrix plummeted hard into the wooden field.

"Dartrix! Are you okay?!" Hau shouted, his happy-go-lucky smile replaced by an alarmed and concerned look, his mouth hanging open in shock at Ash's Hawlucha's speed. Dartrix grunted as it pushed itself up, its eyes going wide when it realised how much dirt had transferred from the wooden field to its coat, "DARTIX!" It exclaimed as it frantically began grooming itself, making Ash gain a look of bewilderment whilst Hau just laughed, "What the hell?" Ash cursed in confusion, his confusion doubling when Hau began laughing and raised Dartix's poke'ball, recalling the frantic pokemon.

"Sorry about that," Hau said as his laughing came to an end, a smile etched across his face, "Good 'ol Dartrix hates when he gets dirt on his coat - plus if he's dirty, he can't battle until he is completely clean again" Ash just frowned - what kind of pokemon couldn't battle just because its coat was dirty? It was just plain weird.

"Shall we continue?" Hau asked, readying his next poke'ball, throwing it into the air as Ash and Hawlucha nodded, ready to face the next pokemon, whatever it was, "Vaporeon!" Hau's second pokemon cried as it appeared from its poke'ball, making Ash smile in his head- finally, a pokemon he recognised!

"Hm" Ash mumbled as he looked at the water evolution of Eevee, whilst Hau just grinned his normal wide smile, "Let's show them how strong we really are! Let's take them down with **Ice Beam**!" Ash raised his brow slowly, watching as Vaporeon took a deep breath and shot out the ice-blue beam towards Hawlucha.

"Jump, follow with **Karate Chop**" Hawlucha easily jumped over the incoming **Ice Beam** before he flew down towards Vaporeon, his left arm glowing bright white as he swung it once close to the water pokemon, "Dodge with **Quick Attack**!" Just as Hawlucha swung his arm down at Vaporeon, the water pokemon disappeared, making Hawlucha swing his arm into the wooden field, snapping through some of the boards and getting his arm stuck whilst Vaporeon appeared behind the fighting/flying pokemon.

"Whilst he's stuck! **Ice Beam**! Aim for his wings!" Ash grunted as he realised there was no way for Hawlucha to dodge, thanks to having his arms tuck between the wooden boards of the battlefield, watching with gritted teeth as the beam of ice hit Hawlucha's left wing, making the fighting/flying type shiver, cringing as his left wing became frozen over.

"Shit..." Ash cursed as he watched his pokemon's wing become froze over, "Return" Ash stated, holding Hawlucha's poke'ball up and recalling the frozen pokemon, "What-?" Hau spoke in confusion, looking at Ash for an explanation, who just silently placed the poke'ball on his waist, reaching for his second poke'ball and throwing it up, revealing his Bulbasaur: The raven-haired boy didn't find it necessary to explain his reason for recalling his frozen pokemon, as it was obvious. With one wing frozen, Hawlucha would have found it difficult to balance whilst standing, let alone being able to attack with the weight of the ice weighing him down. So to Ash, it didn't make sense to keep the flying/fighting pokemon out.


	39. Ending To The Battle

"Shall we continue." Ash more stated than asked, watching as Hau blinked and looked at him with a curious look, "Why did you recall your Hawlucha? He didn't look tired or anything..." Ash rolled his eyes, the question coming across as very stupid as he spoke in a bored voice, "You froze one of Hawlucha's wings - with a wing frozen, he wouldn't have been able to balance enough to attack, so there was no point in him continuing"

* * *

Dawn nodded to herself from the sidelines at Ash's words with a smile, "That was a smart move actually" Zack and his siblings blinked, their own reasoning siding with Hau, "Why do you say that?" Nicole voiced there thoughts, making Dawn blink and look at them - surprised that they didn't see the logic behind Ash's words.

"It's simple really - Hawlucha is an all out attacking pokemon, who relies on its balance and movement when in battle - with a wing frozen, the ability to attack and avoid attacks would be restricted. Plus, if the frozen wing was attacked, the broken shards could piece the wing and cause un-necessary damage" Dawn finished, looking back to the battlefield, whilst the three triplets look at he in surprise. It was the first time they had spoken to the girl, and her reasoning was scarily close to Ash's way of thinking - they just hoped she wasn't 100% like Ash.

* * *

Hau blinked, not really seeing the logic in Ash's words, "If you say so..." Ash just rolled his eyes - this Hau kid wasn't the brightest bulb, nor the sharpest crayon in the box.

"Let's just continue" Ash stated once more, watching as Hau's face turned back into his ear-splitting grin as he pointed towards Bulbasaur, "Let's knock 'em out with **Ice Beam**!" Vaporeon nodded as it took a deep breath, shooting the beam of ice towards Bulbasaur, "Use **Vine Whip **to dodge, then use **Sleep Powder**" Producing the two dark green vines from his bulb, Bulbasaur easily pushed himself of the ground, narrowly dodging the **Ice Beam**, which hit the wooden field, freezing Ash's side other, making Ash grunt as he realised he would have to deal with a slippy field form here-on out.

Once in the air, Bulbasaur's bulb began to shake slightly as a blue powder began emitting from the whole in the bulb, falling over Vaporeon: Making the water eeveeloution blink its eyes before it slumped forward, falling asleep, "Saur!" Bulbasaur gasped as he landed on the icy field, slipping about slightly before he managed to balance himself on the ice, "Slide with the ice - Use the momentum to rush into a **Tackle**" Ash instructed, watching as his Kanto starter began to slowly slide across the ice, slowly but steadily picking up speed.

Once gaining enough speed, Bulbasaur used his vines to push himself forward across the ice, a small shock wave surrounding him as he propelled himself of the ice and slammed into a still sleeping Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon! Come on Vaporeon, wake up!" Hau shouted to his sleeping pokemon, who slide back roughly against the non-icy part of the wooden field, "Your best of returning your pokemon" Ash stated as he watched Vaporeon slide back across the wood, making Hau frown at the words, "No way! We can still fight! Vaporeon just needs to wake up!" Ash sighed at the boys stubbornness, raising a poke'ball and recalling Bulbasaur, "The battle is over, even if your pokemon wakes up, he won't be able to keep fighting"

"What makes you think that? My Vaporeon isn't weak!"

"I never said it was," Ash started with a shrug as he watched Vaporeon slowly start to come round from its slumber, "But my Bulbasaur has a lot more experience, and i am almost certain that my Bulbasaur's **Tackle **has done more damage than your pokemon can take - in fact, just look at your pokemon. Its struggling to stand up" Hau blinked and looked at his Vaporeon, who indeed was struggling to stand up, its head sporting a brand new, and massive bruise. Making the water type pokemon stop trying to stand as it reached its front paws forward to grip its head in pain.

"Vaporeon! Are you okay?!" Hau gasped, running to his pokemon and knelling beside it, "That **Tackle **with the boosted momentum did more damage than either us anticipated - for that i apologize, but it would be considered cruel for you to keep your pokemon battling after taking such massive damage directly to the head" Ash continued, making the triplets eyes widen in shock at Ash's apology.

"Did he just say he was sorry?" Ash heard Zack ask, making him roll his eyes at the triplets. Its not like Ash had lost his ability to feel bad for other people or pokemon - he honestly was just careful not to upset anyone if he could help it. But being so hurt made it hard for Ash to interact with people, but pokemon were another story. In this case, he was more apologizing to Vaporeon than to its trainer.

Hau considered what Ash had said, finally nodding as he recalled his injured pokemon, "This battle isn't over!" Hau exclaimed as he walked back over to his side of the field, freezing when he heard a voice exclaim back, "Yes it is my boy!" The voice made everyone turn towards the opening to the woods that was surrounded in strange looking statues, only to see a large man with white hair and a white beard with his hands on his large stomach, a familiar grin plastered across his face.


	40. One Battle Down, One Battle Up

"Let me guess - this is your grandpa?" Ash spoke slowly as he looked at the smiling man, making Hau nod, his smile slightly smaller than its normal ear-splitting size, "Yup! Thats my gramps! And-" "He's the Kahuna of the island" Ash finished Hau's sentence with a roll of his eyes - if the round white haired man was Hau's grandpa, the obviously he was the Kahuna of the island.

"Yeah..." Hau said slowly before shrugging and turning to look at the older man, "Tutu, what do mean the battle's over? I still have one more pokemon!" The white bearded man, still grinning, let out a hearty laugh as he walked up to the wooden battlefield, "Why, its quiet simple my boy! I have been watching the battle since the very start - it is clear this trainer is more than worthy of battling old Hala" Hala replied as his laughing died down, making Hau blink as Ash just watched the exchange silently.

"What's a Kahuna?" Hala and the others all turned to Dawn, who bore a confused look at the word "Kahuna". "What's a Kahuna? Why! A Kahuna is the strongest trainer on the island! They are chosen by the island guardian to protect the islands inhabitants!" Hau exclaimed passionately, his smile turning into its normal ear-splitting size.

"Really?" Ash rolled his eyes once more - this exchange was pointless in his eyes. He just wanted to get the battle over and done with. The sooner. The better.

"Anyway," Ash's voice seemed to boom, making everyone turn to him, "If your the Kahuna, can we hurry up and battle? I wish to move onto the next island challenge" Hala just grinned and nodded as he made his way up the battlefield at the same time Hau jumped down, his fists clenched and his eyes wide with excitement.

* * *

"First, i shall introduce myself! I am Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele Island, and i accept this Kahuna challenge!" Ash held in rolling his eyes at the loud man - He had already introduced himself before, so this introduction was unnecessary and pointless.

"I, the Kahuna, am permitted to use only three pokemon, whilst the challenger is permitted to use as many as they wish!" Ash just shrugged - so far the battle with the Kahuna's didn't seem to different from a gym battle, "I shall reveal my first pokemon - Come to my side!" Hala continued, un-clipping a poke'ball of his white belt and throwing it into the air, revealing the Hoenn native pokemon known as Hariyama.

"A fighting type, huh?" Ash mumbled under his breath as he looked to Pikachu and nodded. The electric mouse nodded back, his cheeks sparking as he jumped onto the wooden battlefield, a battle ready grin on his face as his cheeks continued to crackle with electricity, "Alright Hariyama! Let's crush this pipsqueak! Shock them with your **Fake Out**!"

Hariyama's large hands began glowing orange as it slammed them together, sending a vibrating shock wave towards Pikachu, "Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, gripping tightly onto the wooden boards as the shock wave blew past him. Ash grabbed a hold of his hat as the shock wave blew past him as well, making him raise a brow, impressed at the sheer power Hala's pokemon was displaying.

"Whilst there stunned! Use **Arm Thrust**!" Hariyama let out a low cry before stomping towards Pikachu, its hands glowing a bright white as it began thrusting them forward, "Use **Agility **into **Quick Attack**" Ash commanded calmly, watching as Pikachu disappeared from where he was standing, making Hariyama stop in its tracks as it looked around in confusion, small swirls filling its eyes as Pikachu darted around the wooden field rapidly

"Pika! Chu!" Pikachu exclaimed, skidding to a halt before shooting towards Hariyama, striking the fighting type square in the back, "Quick! Grab Pikachu and use **Seismic Toss**!" Hariyama, who was still slightly dazed from Pikachu's previous running around the field, shook its head before grabbing a hold of Pikachu's tail with both hands, jumping up and swinging the electric pokemon around several times.

"**Thunderbolt**!" Ash called out, watching with slightly wide eyes as his most loyal pokemon was thrown around like a rag doll, "Pika-CHUUUU!" Pikachu shouted as he let loose his signature move, "Hariya!" Hariyama cried as the electricity travelled through its hands and into the rest of his body, "Withstand it Hariyama!" Hariyama ground its teeth as the electricity continued to travel through it, its hands still firmly clapped around Pikachu's tail, "Now! Throw!" At the command, Hariyama snapped its eyes open, twisting its body and hurling Pikachu into the air, where the electric type flew several feet up, crying his name in shock at how high he was thrown.

"..." Ash stayed silent at first as he watched Pikachu fly up. It wasn't until he started to fall that Ash finally shouted out, "**Iron Spin**!" Making everyone blink in confusion at first until Pikachu began spinning vertically, his tail glowing bright silver and a small shock wave surrounding him as he fell down so fast the Hariyama couldn't dodge, and his tail hit the fighting type right on the top of its head.

"Hariyama!" The fighting type cried out in pain as the steel like tail hit its head. Pikachu pushed his feet against the fighting types head, pushing himself off and spinning as he landed on his hind legs in front of Ash.

"Hariyama! Are you okay?" Hala called out in concern, watching as his strong looking pokemon moved his hands to grip its head in pain, "Hariyama...Hari!" Hariyama grunted at first, shaking the pain away and slamming its foot down, raising its hands, ready to continue the battle, "Alright! Get in there with another **Arm Thrust**!" Once again, Hariyama's hands began glowing orange as he stomped towards Pikachu, "**Agility **once more" Ash instructed, watching as Pikachu once again disappeared from his spot.

"Behind you!" Hala suddenly shouted, making Ash's blink, his eyes widening as Hariyama swung its body around and thrust its left hand forward as Pikachu went to run past it, sending the electric pokemon skidding back across the wooden flooring and towards Hala.

"Impressive..." Ash mused as he watched Pikachu get to his feet, both him and Hariyama now both panting, "Let's end this Hariyama! **Seismic Toss **one more time!" Hariyama, despite its heavy panting, ran at Pikachu, who braced himself, "Jump up and use **Thunder Punch**" Pikachu, still panting, narrowly managed to leap out of the way, turning his body quickly, his small fist crackling with electricity as it flew down, hitting Hariyama in the chest.

Hariyama let out a cry as the attack hit, sending him flying down with surprising strength. Crashing into the wooden floor, Hariyama struggled to push itself up eventually falling forward with swirls in its eyes.

* * *

**Constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	41. Fighting Z-Crystal

Hau's, Nicole's, Zack's, Darwin's and Hala's eyes all widened as Hariyama fell down with swirls in its eyes, indicating it had no more energy in it to keep fighting. Dawn on the other hand let a smile grace over her lips - Ash was just as strong as ever. And it actually meant a lot to her that the raven-haired boy was still, in some sense, using her spinning technique.

"No way...Hariyama lost?" Hau finally spoke up, making the others look towards him, the shock written not only over his face, but most of the others. The triplets were mostly in shock because, when they had battled Hala all those years ago, Hariyama had been the toughest pokemon of Hala's to beat. So much so that each of the triplets lost multiple times to the kahuna.

Hala himself was beside himself with shock - Hariyama was a pokemon he had had for many, many years, and was a pain in the ass to beat for most trainers. But the young man that was Ash had managed to beat the strong fighting type using only a few attacks. Be that they were direct contact attacks, but even then, Hariyama wasn't a push over when it came to taking attacks.

"Hariyama, return" Hala finally said as he came out of his shell-shocked state, raising the fallen pokemon's poke'ball and recalling it. Looking back at Ash, Hala let a small smile grace over his lips before it extended into a full blown grin, followed by a hearty laugh, "That, my boy, was one of the best battles i have ever witnessed!" Ash just nodded, walking over to his still panting Pikachu and picking him up, "Never before have i seen such a powerful un-evolved pokemon in my life as a kahuna!" Hala continued, making Ash almost blush slightly at the praise. Almost. He knew Pikachu was strong, especially given the fact he was un-evolved, but so much praise was unfamiliar to the raven-haired boy.

Slipping his bag of his back, Ash set it down before leaning Pikachu against it gently, "You did well Pikachu, take a rest" Ash said before turning to face Hala once more, "Shall we continue?" Hala let out another hearty laugh as he shook his head, reaching into his pocket as he walked over to Ash, "No need my boy! You have defeated my most powerful pokemon, and to continue would just bring pain to my other pokemon - plus you are clearly worthy of the Fighting Z-Crystal! Here!"

Ash blinked, accepting the item slowly - he could feel a new found respect for Kahuna Hala. Though Ash had a distaste for people, he did respect his elders and people who wouldn't force their pokemon to continue when the only thing that would come is pain for said pokemon, "Okay...what do i do with this one?" Ash slowly asked, watching as Hala bent his knees and punched his hands forward rapidly, "You and your pokemon do this and you will activate the Z-Move, All-Out Pummelling"

Ash nodded as he slipped the fighting Z-Crystal into the same pocket as his first Z-Crystal, "Okay cool" He stated as he knelt down and picked Pikachu up, walking down the steps after slipping his bag back onto his back whilst cradling Pikachu in his arms.

"We should get Hariyama and Pikachu to a pokemon centre! Let's go!" Ash frowned at the mention of the pokemon centre and shook his head, "Were good...you go ahead, ill catch up soon" Hala looked confused, going to say something but stopped when the triplets indicated for him to leave it, "Okay then...Well, we will see you there!" Hala said, grinning as per normal as he, Hau and the triplets left towards the pokemon centre, leaving Ash and Dawn alone in the centre of Ike Town.

* * *

"That was an exceptional battle!" Hala stated as he, Hau and the triplets entered the pokemon centre, "Never have i seen such a technique as a spinning **Iron Tail**!" He continued, handing Hariyama's poke'ball over to Nurse Joy and walking with the others over to the waiting room.

"Yeah. It was cool - but why did you end the battle so soon? You still had Crabominable and Primeape left and ready to fight!" Hau asked as the four trainers sat around the kahuna, who smiled at first before a serious look crossed his face, "I have my reasons my boy" He stated, making Hau look even more confused, "Like what?"

"There is something in that boy that i can sense is not right. Given how he fought with that Pikachu, directly hitting Hariyama in the head with a tail as hard as iron makes me believe that he has doesn't believe in holding back. To be honest, i didn't want my pokemon to get hurt" Hau frowned slightly at the assumption, as did the triplets. Hau had never thought that Ash was the type of trainer to hurt another pokemon on purpose, but he trusted his Tutu.

The triplets just looked at each and shook their heads, "Ash isn't like that - he may be cold and rude, but he cares a lot about his and others pokemon" Nicole spoke up, making Hala frown, his serious look not leaving, "I'm unsure if i believe that" Nicole and her brothers shook their heads once more, "Let's not argue about it" Darwin interjected, calming the situation down, the rest of the time spent in silence as they waited for Hariyama's recovery.

* * *

"That was an awesome battle!" Dawn gushed as the others disappeared from site, leaving her alone with Ash once more, "I can't believe you still use that spinning technique. It was cool to watch Pikachu spinning like that!" Ash let a small smile ghost over his lips as he looked down at a now sleeping Pikachu, "Whilst training, i remembered how efficient the spinning technique was back in Sinnoh, so i thought it be best to keep practising it with Pikachu and the others"

"Speaking of the others...can i see some more of your pokemon?" Ash smiled weakly and shook his head gently, "Not today...i have a better idea" Dawn blinked and looked at Ash curiously, who smiled knowingly, "Remember how i said i needed some new clothes? I was thinking, now that the others are gone, we could go do that now"

Dawn's eyes lit up at the idea of shopping and a grin spread across her face, "Awesome idea!" She exclaimed, blushing when Ash flinched and shot her a look, "Sorry...but come on! Lets go!" Ash let a weak chuckle out as Dawn ran ahead of him, turning to look back at him, "Come on!" Ash just shook his head as he followed her slowly, careful not to wake up his resting pokemon.


	42. A New Look

"What about this one?" Dawn said as she pushed a couple of shirts to the side, pulling one out and turning to face Ash, who looked at the shirt and shook his head, "I don't think yellow and orange floral print is me." Ash stated in a bored and slightly uncomfortable voice - him and Dawn had been through the whole shopping district in Ike Town. But so far, the alolan style was anything but to Ash's taste.

"Come on Ash! We have been to every single shop and you have hated everything!" Ash sweat dropped slightly at Dawn's words and shrugged, "Not my fault the clothes here suck" "Well you need something other than that tatty outfit you have on...come on, there is one more shop we haven't been into" Dawn sighed as the duo walked out of the summer shop and towards a small, darker shop, which pipped Ash's curiosity.

"_**This place doesn't seem to bad...**_" He thought as he glanced into the window, actually spotting a few things he didn't think were to bad, "Maybe we should pass on this one...it looks kinda dark" Ash rolled his eyes and looked at Dawn with a slightly annoyed look, "No, let's go in" Ash stated as he walked through the front door, the door chimes chiming softly as he walked in, followed quickly by Dawn.

"Hmm..." Ash mused as he looked around the shop, his eyes finally landing on who he assumed was the managed. The manged looked pretty cool in Ash's eyes - sporting dark clothes, tattoos and piercings.

"Can you hurry up? This place is giving me the creeps" Dawn said as Ash began browsing through the clothes, rolling his eyes as he finally picked out a an outfit, turning and walking towards the changing room,

"I think this will do" Ash said from inside the changing room, making Dawn look up as the boy emerged from the room. Dawn's eyes widened and a dark blush spread across her face as she looked at Ash in his chosen clothes. The first thing Dawn's eyes landed on was Ash's impressive 6-pack abs, showing through the black sleeveless shirt with thin red lines going across it he wore.

"Uhh..." Dawn mumbled as she stared at Ash, who was to busy looking over the other articels of clothing he had chosen to notice Dawn's gawking. The rest of his outfit consisted of a black and red long-sleeved jacket, black trousers that cut off just below his knees, red sneakers, a blue and black pendant that he wore around his neck, a light red matching bag pack and, of course, his signature look. A black and red backwards facing cap.

"I like it." Ash stated as he nodded, finally noticing Dawn's starring, making him chuckle softly, "Dawn...your drooling" Dawn blinked and raised a hand to her lips, blushing dark red when she felt saliva, "U-urm..." She stuttered out as she wiped her mouth and glanced away from Ash, "i-it looks good...r-real good" Dawn managed to say, making Ash let out a small laugh as he nodded, "Agreed." He stated, not wishing to embarrass the girl anymore than she already was as he made his way over to the counter.

"That will be £900 Poke'dollars please" Ash raised a brow at the price and shrugged, digging into the pocket of his old jeans and producing the money, "Whoa...where did you get all that money?" "I kept the money i earned from the Kalos league. Coming in second meant i earned a fair amount of money" Ash stated as he placed the money into his new trouser pockets and walked out of the shop, Dawn following closely behind him.


	43. Different Ways To Travel

"Hey!" Dawn shouted as she and Ash entered the pokemon centre: Dawn entering first with Ash following slowly behind her with a now awake, and well rested Pikachu sat on the shoulder of his brand new jacket. The triplets, Max, Hau and Hala all looked towards the duo, smiles crossing their faces, "Finally!" Hau shouted loudly, making Ash and Pikachu flinch from the loud boys voice, "What took you so long?"

"We went shopping" Dawn simply stated, tilting her head back towards Ash as an indication, making the others look towards the newly clothed boy. Nicole allowed a dark red blush to cross her face as she stared at Ash's tightly showing abs, that wear showing through his black top.

"How is Hariyama?" Ash suddenly asked, slightly uncomfortable with all the attention being on him, so he chose to ask Hala the question in hopes to turn the attention away from him, "Hm? Oh, Hariyama is doing well" Hala said, slightly surprised that Ash had even asked about the pokemon, "Good to here...that reminds me. Hau, hows Vaporeon? Has his bruise healed yet?" Hau blinked, but smiled widely with a nod and a thumbs up, "He is doing great! Nurse Joy said he will fine to battle in no time!" Ash nodded slowly as he looked away from the boy, sticking a hand into the pocket of his shorts.

"So, how and when do we move on to the next island?" Ash changed the subject once more. Although he had been concerned for the two pokemon he had inevitably injured, Ash knew that showing to many emotions would leave him vulnerable to be hurt. So he only allowed his kindness and concern to shine through in short episodes, and to only selective people. Although he didn't really like Hau or Hala, as they were to loud and a little obnoxious for Ash. He was still kind enough to show slight concern over their pokemon, as most of his kindness was and always would be mostly directed towards trainers pokemon, rather than the trainer themselves.

"Why! That is where i come in my boy!" A familiar voice suddenly spoke up, making the group of trainers turn towards the entrance of the centre, where good old professor Kukui was stood with an ear-splitting grin on his face, "There are actually a few ways to get to the next island!" Kukui continued, making Ash raise his brow in slight curiosity - other than travelling on a boat, how else could one get to the other island?

"We should do the Mantine surf!" Max suddenly pitched in with a smile, "The what?" Dawn voiced her confusion, making the Hoenn native grin as he looked at her, "The Mantine Surf! It's sort of like a game - you basically ride on the back of a trained Mantine, do tricks and it takes you to the next island! Plus you can score points depending on what tricks you pull of, and you can win things called battle points! They let you buy cool items and TM's" Max explained, makign Ash raise a brow.

"How do you know so much?" Max blinked and blushed with a sheepish grin, "I did a lot of research on Alola before i travelled here, and the Mantine Surf was one of the first things that came up when i searched ways to travel to the different islands" Ash shrugged and looked around at everyone with a blank look, "I will make my own way to the next island - which way do i need to travel?" The professor blinked at the boys words as he and everyone left the pokemon centre, heading towards the beach.

"Just to the east of this island - how do you plan to get there? You don't have a boat, and form the sounds of it, your not going to do the Mantine Surf..." Kukui trailed off, making Ash roll his eyes, "I'll have my Floatzel carry me across. I prefer to travel alone anyway" Before anyone could say anything, Ash began to remove his shoes and socks, placing them into his bag as he reached to his belt, plucking one of the poke'balls from it and throwing it into the air, revealing his powerful looking water weasel pokemon.

"Let's go Floatzel - we are travelling to the east" Floatzel nodded, not paying attention to the other trainers as he aloud Ash to climb onto his back before setting out swimming.


End file.
